Was Deepika Padukone Really Depressed? (7+ Intriguing Facts)

In this article, we will be discussing, “ Deepika Padukone Depression Interview”, discuss the clinical features of depression, understand the entire journey of depression in Deepika and answer some of the questions around the topic.

Deepika Padukone‘s depression

Deepika was diagnosed with Depression in the year 2014 and has shown severe symptoms of depression.

Deepika Padukone

Deepika is a Bollywood actress born on January 5, 1986, in Copenhagen, Denmark. She is a producer as well as one of the highest-paid Indian Actresses. Deepika was featured in many nation’s most popular award winning films as well as one of the most influential people around the world. 

She is the daughter of badminton player, Prakash Padukone and as a teenager, played badminton at the national level. After that, her journey as an actress began when she opted for a career as a fashion model. Her first debut in Bollywood release was made in a movie, Om Shanti Om with her opposite dual role, Shah Rukh Khan.

It was in her 2015 Interview that she openly and publicly spoke about her personal experience of having to overcome and battle with Clinical Depression. With this personal experience and her post realisation, she formed a foundation in November the same year, The Live Love and Laugh Foundation. 

Apart from that, she has also launched different campaigns to create awareness about the importance of mental health and it’s importance. She was also a brand ambassador of the NGO, Indian Psychiatric Society. 

In the year 2020, she was presented and honoured with the Crystal Award for her works and contribution in creating awareness on Mental Health. 

Depression

It is a mood disorder that is often called Unipolar Depression or Major Depressive 

Disorder. It is one of the most common and prevalent mental disorders.

According to the American Psychiatric Association (2013), the two key symptoms of Depression are Depressed mood and the loss of pleasure and interest, Anhedonia during the same 2-week period. 

Apart from these two symptoms, Depressive patients also undergo other symptoms such as insomnia and hypersomnia, psychomotor agitation, loss of energy, worthlessness, diminished ability to think and concentrate, and recurrent thoughts of death, suicidal ideation

The duration of depressive episodes differs and varies from each individual wherein, for some cases, it lasts for about 2 weeks while in others it might persist for months and years.

Signs and symptoms of Depression 

Some sign of depression are:

• Sustained and prolonged depressed mood
• Loss of interest in normally pleasurable activities or those that one enjoys doing
• Loss of sexual drives
• Fluctuations in body weight
• Disruption in sleep cycle resulting in insomnia and hypersomnia
• Muscle agitation, restlessness and twitches
• Disruption and disturbance in speech
• Fatigue and low energy in performing daily task
• A feeling of worthlessness and excessive guilt
• Recurrent thoughts on death, suicide and attempts for suicide.
• Impairment in concentration and attention

Deepika Padukone and her journey of Depression

Deepika had been vocal and open with her struggle of depression as well as anxiety.  She shared the experience of depression and the whole journey of it as an inspiration for her to create awareness about it as well as to raise the voice of sufferers.

As per her word, “ Mental Illness crept up on me when I least expected it”. “ The understanding that there is a hollow, empty and pittish feeling when I was at peak of her profession and was professionally high”. 

She was diagnosed with Depression in the year 2014 when was in her late 20’s. And it was her other who spotted and noticed the symptoms in her before departing with her. Her mother urged her to seek professional help however, the stigma and taboos associated with and surrounding mental illnesses all around the world and in India has made it difficult to seek help. 

It was in mid-February when she first fainted after a long tiring day at work and the next morning, she woke up to a feeling of emptiness and the desire to cry out. During the time, professionally she was on her peak since she starred in four movies, her family was supportive and she was also dating with the guy who later became her husband.

Despite the cloud nine feelings, she was disturbed by the feeling of exhaustion, loneliness, desire to cry and emptiness. There is nothing that excites her and every morning is a huge endeavour for her and all she resorts to was to sleep.

This feeling prolonged for some months and she isn’t even aware of things that are running around in her surroundings. When her family visits her from Bangalore, she has to wear the mask and exhibit there is nothing going wrong in her and everything seems fine. 

It was only her family that was nearing to leave that she broke out and cried. Her mother was the one who took it as a serious sign that something might be going wrong from her end, be it workspace, or in her personal life. Despite her mother’s consecutive questioning, she refused and replied nothing than to simply shed.

With the push from her mother to seek professional help, she was diagnosed with Clinical Depression by a psychiatrist and this had been the moment for her when she felt like someone did actually understand her feelings and struggle.

Not knowing what she is going through and battling with, moreover to wear the mask as if nothing wrong had happened was a struggle for her be it emotionally, mentally and psychologically. 

Her diagnosis made her accept her condition and battle against it with the help of professionals. Post that, her journey to recovery was an amalgamation of medication, therapy, lifestyle changes, balancing workload with personal life and mindfulness. 

The reflection of her after the diagnosis had made question certain things including her failure to understand the illness, her family apart from mother and coworkers not recognizing and understanding her struggle and her reluctance in sharing and venting out her emotion and seeking help. This made her go public and voice out her struggle and journey with the aim and belief that her story might help others who are also going through the same to share theirs too.

Although the decision came up with certain dilemmas and voices of concerns like her reputation and public endorsement, whether people will think that she was paid to share about the issue etc. Irrespective of that, she voices out in the year 2025, with a nationwide interview with Hindustan times.

Deepika often shares, “ Fortunately, timely professional help coupled with the support of caregivers around me, empowered me towards the path of recovery. As I began to read about the subject, I realised that there were millions like me, who were suffering in silence.” 

Deepika’s Interview on Depression

An excerpt from Deepika’s interview:

“  I think for me the scariest  was not understanding why it was happening or where it was coming from, because there was not one reason or cause. So when you are sad, you know why you are sad. You have probably lost your job or fought with someone, all kinds of things..you have fought with your mom.  So sadness comes with different, I think when you are sad you can sort of tell why you are sad. But for me, I couldn’t understand why it was happening and where it was coming from, but it was something like he just said. It was this heaviness and this burden I was feeling.Like I said,there were days when I didn’t want to wake up.I just wanted to sleep because that was my escape.”

 “Loss of appetite, I would feel hungry but when I would actually settle down to eat I would hardly eat.Fortunately, for me I think I slept well. So that’s  one thing that they both keep checking on me as well that I sleep okay. Ya but I wouldn’t feel like eating and it would really depend and there were days when I feel okay and I want to go out, be normal and meet everyone and there were days when I just wanted to be at home.”

“ I was just trying to figure it out, what is this and what is happening to me? Is it a phase, is it going to pass? It was just confusion. So yeah,not discussing with people at work was not because I did not want to share it with them, at a point I was working with people who really care about me, who go out of their way to make sure I am okay. But, I think my reason for not sharing was because I couldn’t understand it myself of what was happening.”

Deepika’s work after her journey of Depression

It was the realization that she needed to share her struggle with others so that people are encouraged to seek help as well as to voice out their struggle as well. 

In June 2015, she founded the Foundation Live, Love and Laugh that aims to create and raise awareness about depression, anxiety as well as to reduce the stigma and taboos attached to mental health-related illnesses. 

The foundation also raised awareness about mental health in different settings like school, workspace and etc. The foundation also worked and partnered with medical professionals by launching different projects and campaigns. 

It also works on inculcating hope and belief in those people dealing with Mental Health-related illnesses and also teaching them to be kind with themselves despite the struggle.

She also started with the hashtag Not Ashamed to create awareness about mental illnesses and to stress on the issues faced by Depression survivors.

Deepika also launched a campaign called, “ More than just sad” which aims to assist and help the general physicians with the treatment of patients who are struggling and suffering from anxiety and depression.

FAQs: Deepika Padukone Depression Interview

BetterHelp: A Better Alternative

Those who are seeking therapy online may also be interested in BetterHelp. BetterHelp offers plenty of formats of therapy, ranging from live chats, live audio sessions and live video sessions. In addition, unlimited messaging through texting, audio messages and even video messages are available here.

BetterHelp also offers couples therapy and therapy for teenagers in its platform. Furthermore, group sessions can also be found in this platform, covering more than twenty different topics related to mental health and mental illness. The pricing of BetterHelp is also pretty cost-effective, especially considering the fact that the platform offers financial aid to most users.

Conclusion

In this article, we discussed, “ Deepika Padukone Depression Interview”, discussed the clinical features of depression, understood the entire journey of depression in Deepika and answered some of the questions around the topic.

For full coverage and details, visit the links mentioned below

https://www.indiatoday.in/movies/celebrities/story/deepika-padukone-on-her-depression-my-mother-saw-the-symptoms-and-doctors-diagnosed-it-1607499-2019-10-09

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/29/bollywoods-deepika-padukones-battle-with-mental-illness-depression.html#:~:text=Padukone%20was%20diagnosed%20with%20depression,her%20to%20seek%20medical%20help.&text=%E2%80%9CThe%20toughest%20part%20in%20the,was%20feeling%2C%E2%80%9D%20said%20Padukone.

Bibliography

Gilchrist, K. (2020). HEALTH AND WELLNESS Bollywood star Deepika Padukone shares how she coped with depression during a ‘professional high’. Beyond the Valley. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/29/bollywoods-deepika-padukones-battle-with-mental-illness-depression.html

Outlook web bureau. (2018). Days Before Marriage, Deepika Padukone Wrote About Her Fight Against Depression, Anxiety. Outlook. https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/entertainment-news-days-before-marriage-deepika-padukone-penned-down-her-fight-against-depression-anxiety/322162