Alia Bhatt's Sister Shaheen Pens Down Her Battle With Depression In An Instagram Post

Hygemsta

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posted on 7 years ago — updated on 1 second ago

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It's a brave thing to do. Thank you, Shaheen.

So much has been said and written about depression but nothing can ever come close to what a person suffering from depression goes through. According to a survey by the World Health Organisation, India has the highest suicide rate - because of depression and anxiety - of any country in the world. Despite these alarming statistics, there continues to be a stigma and a sense of embarrassment when it comes to talking about mental health. But with celebrities like Deepika Padukone, Karan Johar, Ileana D'Cruz and now Shaheen Bhatt coming on the forefront and voicing their experiences, it looks like we're heading to brighter days.

Alia Bhatt's sister Shaheen Bhatt has opened up about her tryst with depression in this heartfelt Instagram post. She makes it clear right in the beginning that this is neither a confession nor a revelation. She also writes that sometimes the feeling lasts for hours and other times for days but never has she tried to hide it.

She further states that she decided to pen down her ongoing battle with depression because she wanted to write how she's doing - instead of what she's doing.

I've lived with depression on and off since I was about 13 years old. This is not a revelation or a confession. Those who know me know this about me. It's not something I take any pains to hide, I'm not ashamed of it or particularly troubled by it. It's just a part of who I am. I have days where I feel good and then I have days where I don't. One minute everything's fine and the next it's like someone turned the light off inside my head. I go quiet and it's difficult to get out of bed. Like it always does the world around me loses focus and I struggle to make sense of it. Sometimes these bouts last an hour - sometimes they last days. Today, I'm on day 4. I say I live with depression rather than I struggle with it because for me (and I speak only for myself here) I don't see why it has to be a struggle. I once read an idea by an American essayist called Richard Mitchell which stayed with me; it's now become how I try to approach the dips in my week or month. The idea is this: To be sick, or to suffer, is inevitable. But to become bitter and vindictive in sickness and suffering and to surrender to irrationality, supposing yourself the innocent and virtuous victim of the evils intentions of the world, is not inevitable. The appropriate answer to the question - Why me? is the other question - Why not me? *** Why am I writing about this? Well, I spend a fair amount of time on social media during the course of my day and today I found myself looking for something to post because it's been a few days since I've posted anything. I couldn't find anything so I figured I'd just talk about this - how I'm doing, instead of what I'm doing. It's as simple as that, and we could all stand to do a little more of it. P.S. That picture just seemed to work in this context.
A photo posted by Shaheen Bhatt (@shaheenb) on Nov 23, 2016 at 12:18am PST