The date is 7.04.2017. It’s the World Health Day.
In today’s world of increased physical dissociativeness and the rise of familiarity between people through only filters and screens, mental health has become an important topic of discussion. Heck, it’s become so important that discussing mental health is no longer a taboo in the country. With more and more prominent personalities coming forward to discuss their problems, it has become clear that mental wellness is as important as physical wellness in the world.
One of the most common and the most devastating mental health issues is major depressive disorder, commonly known as depression. According to psychiatry.org,
‘Depression is a common and serious medical illness that negatively affects how you feel, the way you think and how you act. It causes feelings of sadness and/or a loss of interest in activities once enjoyed. It can lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems and can decrease a person’s ability to function at work and at home.’
It is one of those sneaky ones which you won’t notice while it infects you and the brightest people around you and leaves you all with a hole in your gut. It can happen anytime, in happiness and grief, in celebration and mourning, it can happen when you are at our peak and it can happen when you are at rock bottom.
The good news is that although an uphill battle, depression can be won over with proper guidance, medication and help. A few celebrities who have overcome their depression and come out as better people are chronicled below:
JK Rowling
“Depression isn’t just being a bit sad. It’s feeling nothing. It’s not wanting to be alive anymore.”
The author of the famous Harry Potter series was a single mother in her late twenties, living on unemployment benefits when she started getting the symptoms of depression. She could have given into her demons and let them destroy her life, leaving this world without the magical world of Hogwarts. What she did instead was take the symptoms as a wake-up call and to tackle them by focusing on writing the first Harry Potter book. Along with this, she sought out medical help and after some struggle found the right counsel to lift her out of her mental state. Now she talks openly about her issues in order to encourage others to accept their problems and work on getting better. (Yes, Dementors are her personifying depression.)
Source: WHO (World Health Organization)
Shahrukh Khan
Many people think that depression only hits the people who are down on their luck and going through a tough time but actor Shahrukh Khan debunks that myth. In 2010, he suffered a shoulder injury which required surgery. Post the surgery, the pain and the problems of the recovery made him depressed but with the help of counsel and medication, he was able to return to the King Khan avatar we all know and love.
Ellen Degeneres
It’s said a lot of comic artists take up the profession so that they can cope with the loneliness and pain that they feel. Celebrated stand-up artist and comedian Ellen Degeneres is one of them. In 1997, she had a great sit-com called Ellen, she had recently come out as a lesbian and the media was hailing her decision and things were great until all of a sudden everything started going backward. She lost her show, her relationship with her partner soured and she became the butt of a lot of jokes in the industry. This led to a 3-year long dark depression which she successfully fought off and now her talk show is one of the best in the world. Sometimes, accepting who you are and making the world accept it is difficult but she proved that it can be done and you can have a happy life after the struggle.
Angelina Jolie
When you are young and successful, it can hamper your well-being as has been well documented by the number of celebrities getting into trouble on an annual basis but if you choose to and work on a path to recovery, you can make yourself and the world a better place. Actress Angelina Jolie has done exactly that. She suffered from depression, anorexia and a tendency of self-harm when she was young and had a taste of success. She says she felt very empty despite achieving a lot and it was only after her humanitarian work started that she started getting better. Now after a double mastectomy and getting help for her mental issues she has become a healthier person, physically and mentally and during the journey, she has made the world a better place.
Gwyneth Paltrow
A child being born is probably the best thing to happen to a happy couple, but when little Moses was born to actress Gwyneth Paltrow she felt anything but happy. A couple of years earlier, during the birth of her daughter she had been euphoric but with Moses she felt like she was a failure of a mother. This a common problem known as postpartum depression, something a significant amount of mothers face. It was only when her husband suggested it that she considered the disease and got help. Now they are a happy family and the veteran actress has gone on to do stellar work.
Each of these celebrities recognized that they had a problem and actively sought help and counsel to help them beat the crippling disease that depression is!
Today, let’s pledge to be aware of the problems anyone in our community could be facing and help them and ourselves overcome the problems in a positive constructive manner through getting the proper counsel and medication along with support and encouragement which is the only right way of beating off this silent killer.
LetsTalk
Shackles
~Aman Gandhi
There was this time
When I had wings
I was free to explore
The world & its things
I could fly to the edges
And listen to the lore
Everything was an experience
No day was a bore
I could drink from the cup
Of a German so bold
I could nibble on a
‘thepla’ baked gold.
I listened to the crows
Fathoming their songs
I saw the working beaver
Building the dam long.
I swam in the thoughts
Of delirium very deep.
I waded to the summit
Of contemplation so steep.
I had all I needed
Yet there was greed.
When I saw the glass spire,
I had to have the deed
I searched high & low
I searched left & right
I saw the golden doorway
and I knew I had to fight.
The battle was gore
I found sides
Yet to be explored.
I found my heart, a stone
I entered covered in grime
and the scent of struggle, confined
There stood a golden sentry
Whose smile showed wild shine
His words came as a blur
Something I couldn’t concur
He said to get this fine
The mighty glass shrine
I must give up my
Wings, white which helped me fly
I had to then climb up
To a throne so unearthly
It warped minds
To claim it I had to tie
Shackles to my spirit &
Own this golden lie.
***
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