Deepika launches mental health awareness campaign

Actor Deepika Padukone’s charitable trust launched a nationwide campaign to raise public awareness on mental health issues here on Monday, coinciding with World Mental Health Day.

The campaign ‘#DobaraPoocho’ (literally, Ask Again) is by The Live Love Laugh Foundation (TLLLF), which she set up exactly a year ago. The actor was diagnosed with depression in 2014, and while addressing the gathering the actor broke down and thanked her parents and sister for helping her overcome the ailment.

“Two years ago, my parents came to visit me. They were about to leave when my mother asked me if I am okay. I told her I was fine. When she asked me again, I felt myself choking and broke down. If it wasn’t for my mother, I wouldn’t be here. I want to thank my sister, my father, my friends and family for helping me,” a teary-eyed Padukone said.

“The society we live in on Tuesday has become so competitive that in the process we become less sensitive to people around us. Through this campaign, we urge society to be more sensitive to ourselves and the people around us,” she said.

“Mental health issues largely affect those who feel alone. The campaign, thus, is essentially about strengthening relationships — with family, friends and partners,” said lyricist and ad-guru Prasoon Joshi, the curator of the campaign.

“Questions like ‘How are you?’ are asked as a form of greeting. Very often, they are empty tokens of communication – asked and then immediately forgotten. We do not wait for an open, heartfelt response and we’d be taken aback if the person actually responded honestly on her or his state of mind at that moment,” Joshi said.

“The truth is that behind that mask, one out of every 10 Indians is afflicted with depression and anxiety. ‘Dobara Poocho’ was born out of this very need to look at someone again, to observe that someone closely again, to be aware of his or her nuances again, to hold the person close again, to ask again,” he added.

The launch was attended by eminent personalities and experts, including TLLLF trustees, counsellor Anna Chandy and psychiatrist Dr Shyam Bhat, who took part in a panel discussion.

Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Anupriya Patel said, “The government is trying to develop and allocate resources to address the problem of rising mental ailments. We encourage and welcome collaborations with the private sector, civil society, experts and the media in this regard.”

“The Medical Council of India has mandated that 10 per cent of all credit hours for Continuing Medical Education must be on mental health,” said Dr K K Aggarwal, national president-elect of the Indian Medical Association.

He added that insurance companies must ensure that depression and other mental health ailments are not excluded in mediclaim.

President of Indian Psychiatric Society Dr G Prasad Rao said, “Establishing a resourceful platform to educate doctors to identify depression in the initial stage can allow for early intervention. Public mental health education can then be taken forward via print and electronic media.”

The dignitaries also spoke about the need to reduce social stigma associated with the treatment of mental health ailments.

“To make a more inclusive and coexisting society, anyone who has had any sort of mental illness should not feel like they don’t belong in society. Most importantly, I would say that there is hope,” said Padukone.

The Live Love Laugh Foundation was set up on October 10, 2015 by Deepika Padukone to reduce social stigma and raise awareness around mental health. 

Recently, the organisation also began a sensitisation programme on mental health for doctors, in collaboration with the Indian Medical Association and the Indian Psychiatric Society.

The World Health Organization estimates that 10% of India’s population suffers from mental health disorders.