Hrithik Roshan opens up on battling depression

The star encouraged people to talk openly about mental illness

Hrithik Roshan has become one of the most recent Bollywood celebrity to reveal he has been through depression in the past. Speaking at an event to spread mental health awareness, the Krrish star shared what he's been through and how is should be discussed openly.

Surprise!Dropping dposter of my next #EverydayHeroes.Realize ur inner power ndiscover d strength'v ur spirit.D mind sees all. Mpower urself! pic.twitter.com/wt0CUF2FqQ

— Hrithik Roshan (@iHrithik) October 14, 2016

Hrithik believes depression is a normal thing and one should be casual while talking about it. Speaking at #EverydayHeroes campaign to spread mental health awareness, Hrithik said, “I have been through my ups and downs. I have experienced depression and confusion. It’s a normal thing and we should be very casual when we speak about it. I have experienced issues in my life. We all go through ups and downs in our lives. The ups and downs are important because we evolve through both of them. When you go through a down it is important to have a clarity of thought. Sometimes your brain takes over and it kinds of feeds you with unwanted thoughts. Feeds you with thoughts which are not aligned with what you want to do in life and that is the time you need an objective point of view or a third person to look at you and tell you that this is what has happened because you lose awareness at that time.”

He shared that our vulnerabilities makes us humane. “Being vulnerable is what makes us humane. Being a human being means vulnerable. Don’t feel you are weak or it (depression) makes you a lesser or weaker person,” the actor said.



On mental illness being stigmatised in our society he said, "Millions don’t know they might be suffering from something clinical which is not their fault. It is nothing one should feel awkward about. A knee, elbow, back or neck problems are something we are unapologetic to talk about. But when we are going to go through deep anxiety, depression, chaos, confusion or addictive behaviour and even though we know we are going through it, we don’t allow ourselves to talk about the problems that deal with the brain. It is because we have been conditioned since birth that it is something to feel embarrassed about. And we need to stamp out that stigma. We need to set ourselves free. We need to educate people."

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— ETC Bollywood (@ETCBollywood) October 17, 2016

He also shared that he has seen others close to him suffer from mental health issues. "I feel mental health will have enormous influence on our future. As a society, we are going into a danger zone as far as mental health is concerned. I have seen this problem from very close quarters. I have seen the jubilation when you have an understanding that it is not your fault and the fact that it can be cured. I always question this stigma. I have seen my friends suffer in silence and it bothered me to a level where I started asking questions."

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