Deepika Padukone opens up about her battle with depression

Deepika Padukone, who had an extremely successful 2014, recently opened up about her struggles with anxiety and depression.

'In early 2014, while I was being appreciated for my work, one morning, I woke up feeling different. A day earlier, I had fainted due to exhaustion; it was all downhill from there. I felt a strange emptiness in my stomach.' she said in an interview with Hindustan Times.

While shooting for 'Happy New Year' she spoke of how days were a roller-coaster of feelings and how it was a struggle to wake up in the morning. She tried to focus more on her work and put on a brave face for her parents as they were worried about her long working hours. She also revealed that she went through counselling and took medication to deal with the issue.

Hailing Deepika for speaking out about the issue, Professor Vikram Patel, of the Public Health Foundation of India, was quoted in NDTV as saying "It's extremely good news that someone who's extremely popular in the public eye has come out and spoken about a health issue that's traditionally stigmatised."

Deepika also felt that people need to take mental health as seriously as they do physical health and that she was working on an initiative to create more awareness about anxiety and depression.