It seems like this month has been an unsettling kickstart to a conversation about depression and mental health as a whole. Kate Spade, 55, the visionary and founder of the brand Kate Spade New York was found deceased in her apartment in an apparent suicide. As we were all reeling over the shock of this news, we woke up one musty afternoon to another shocking but similar news of chef Anthony Bourdain’s suicide. He was 61 and seemingly in happy place. If these cases aren’t a sign to take mental illness as a serious phenomenon then we don’t know what is.
Actress Alia Bhatt’s sister, Shaheen Bhatt decided it was high time that she took charge and spoke about this. She penned down a piece for a leading website about how she could have easily been one of these people or the many more ‘seemingly happy’ people before them who have been struggling with mental health issues but haven’t been vocal enough. She likes to think that she has been living with depression rather than struggling with it as it is still a very active part of her life.
“I’ve lived with depression since I was 12 years old and since then I’ve been suicidal on more than one occasion. I’ve experienced the sheer terror of contemplating a life filled with unrelenting anguish, and I’ve been consumed by the terrifying thought of having but a single means of escape from a bleak, unbearable future.”
What rattled her was not the idea that a lot more people like Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain who have chosen to end their anguish by ending their lives but the fact that they decided to take this step not in their 20s or 30s but at an age when everyone thinks they would have their life together.
“The statistics on depression itself are equally staggering. Globally, more than 300 million people live with depression and it is now the leading cause of disability worldwide. Depression is everywhere, and still, it is nowhere. While there has been a definite upswing in conversation about depression and mental illness, it’s still such a taboo that we tend to talk about it in hushed tones and whispers.”
In November 2016, she spoke up about her depression and her struggle with mental health on social media. But because of the way depression is perceived, she thought that her name would always be linked to this aspect of her life. She was afraid she would be that ‘depressed girl’ but she did persevere and she did continue to talk about her depression. This, so that people would understand that even though depression is not the ONLY identifying thing about her but it was still a part of her.
“We don’t like to talk about depression because there is nothing romantic or glamorous about feeling like you’re losing your mind; no attractive selfies are waiting to be taken when you’re curled up crying on the floor, no witty one-liners are floating around your mind to tweet for likes. We don’t like talking about suicide because as animals, the very thought of taking our own life goes against every natural instinct we possess.”
I agree with her wholeheartedly. The dialogue related to mental health is still very strained and we need to talk about it more until it isn’t anymore. It shouldn’t be a thing about being ‘brave’ when someone speaks up and it definitely shouldn’t be in hush tones. Understanding mental health, depression and suicide for what it is and seeing it as a normal occurrence is what will save a lot of people and a lot of lives. Until then, we are glad that people like Shaheen, Deepika Padukone, Zaira Wasim, Illeana D’Cruz and more who keep stepping up to the plate and bring this hushed phenomenon into the light every now and then.
Images: Instagram
