Depression is considered as a stage of acute hormonal imbalance that can affect anyone with disastrous repercussion.
Even Bollywood celebrities having smashing box-office collections in their kitty aren’t untouched with this stage. Actors with star prominence and stardom have also crossed this devastating phase. Where some artists came out strong, many developed suicidal tendencies and ended their life. These suicidal celebrities failed to cope with their mental health and depression.
Mental health & depression in a celebrity status life has turned out to be common these days. A glance in the past will assure the fact as legendary actors like Guru Dutt, Meena Kumari, and the sensational beauty Madhubala are examples. Whether natural or suicidal, they ended their life with depression and alcoholism. However, there’re strong minds that have come up with confidence, determination, and consultation to defeat celebrities’ depression and get their stardom back.
Here’re five celebrities who defeated and overcame depression with clinical consultation and strong will power.
Shah Rukh Khan
Immensely popular with the term “Badshah of Bollywood”, Shahrukh khan has once succumbed to depression after his shoulder surgery. The incident dates back when the actor shooting for Rohit Shetty’s sitcom “Chennai Express” was badly hurt with torn muscles on his shoulders. He was treated in London and the actor with limitless pain made him slip to a phase of intense sadness, helplessness, and hopelessness.
The actor with sleepless nights even thought to end his career as he won’t be able to entertain audiences with a broken shoulder and clinical depression. But King Khan, known for his commitment to best acting could never refrain him from doing what his fans love to see on the silver screen. The actor under clinical treatment and consultation confronted depression and smashed the box-office with consecutive hit movies.
Deepika Padukone
The Chappak actor in conversation with the WHO Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was vocal on her mental health & depression. After experiencing clinical symptoms in 2014 for the first time, she expressed her emotion in a diary that “all she wanted is to sleep”. She woke up with severe stomach pain, treated it throughout the day, felt exhausted and sad every moment. The symptoms worsened when her parents visited Mumbai and Deepika with her bravo face confronted them.
There were moments when she felt lost and alone even though her co-actors and unit members were in a celebratory mood around her. All that saved her was the professional help of a clinical expert who diagnosed her mental status and prescribed severe medication to battle depression. Deepika with acceptance to the situation underwent counseling, took proper medication, and felt much better.
She returned to the silver screen with immense energy and gave blockbusters like Baji Rao Mastani and the righteous queen “Padmavaati” played by her in the movie Padmavaat. In an interview with a leading newspaper, she ended her speech by saying “I know in the current scenario we lead stressful lives but you have to keep reminding yourself that it is important to live, love and laugh.”
Honey Singh
The Punjabi sensational rapper who made India go ga-ga on its tunes opened up with his experience on bipolar disorder he had undergone. His two-year-long disappearance from the singing fraternity wasn’t clear to his fans. His shocking revelations to the media were surprising for his fans as he became an alcohol addict that led him to suffer from severe depression.
He revealed that the treatment went on for 18 months during which he consulted four doctors and the medication wasn’t responding to his mental health & depression. The singer who performed in a crowd of 30000-40000, was scared to communicate with his family members and kept himself locked for several days. His actions and behavior were not in his control. That is how catastrophic the depression is.
Honey Singh in his interview with a news channel disclosed his mental condition in the past and requested everyone to keep a check on their mental health and do not consider it as a societal stigma. Professional consultation is necessary if you start feeling the symptoms. He also thanked Deepika Padukone for helping her to combat this tough phase by sharing her doctor’s contact where the singer got appropriate consultation and medication.
Kapil Sharma
The renowned comedian “Kapil Sharma” is one of the examples of celebrities’ depression cases. He is a personality witnessing many ups and downs in his career. His depression journey started from the day when an ugly fight in the airplane with his co-stars of The Kapil Sharma Show (TKSS) caught media attention. The show fetched low TRPs and the channel has to shut the show. With no source of employment in hand, the star comedian slipped to depression and made alcohol his partner.
Kapil Sharma disappeared for a year and made a comeback with a family game show. Unfortunately, the show couldn’t survive for more than two episodes. Later, he came with TKSS season three currently running on Sony television. The actor spoke about his depression and the media attacks during his tough time. He was admitted to a drug rehab center with health conditions worsening day by day.
However, treatment and clinical help made him strong enough to fight with the circumstances and the comedian is back on the small screen with the third season of TKSS.
Manisha Koirala
The cult movie Bombay actor Manisha Koirala came to limelight when she was diagnosed with cancer. A broken relationship, issues and complications in married life along with a severe unexpected disease led her to depression.
However, she survived cancer and got over depression with the support of his family and peers. She expresses her journey as a sea with high and low tide but it’s important to swim. In her words, she is enjoying the best role of her life- “being me”.
What Causes Celebrities’ Depression?
The life of Bollywood actors seems to be perfect. Their stardom is like a dream come true for their fans and lovers. However, the mental health of celebrities is something we have often ignored.
The Madhur Bhandarkar’s movie “Heroine” has conspicuously showcased the career graph and growth of an actor and how it ends with a depression leading to quitting the industry forever. There are many reasons for a celebrity struggling with depression despite name, fame and prosperity.
A Lull In The Career
A break in the career for a star is detrimental to his stardom. The Bollywood industry is rich in presenting and introducing fresh faces. In such a case, there’re probabilities of losing screen space that affects career in the long run.
Unexplainable Mood Swings
Hectic shooting slots, changing multiple sets in a day, combating on-the-set pressure sometimes turns frustrating and causes shifts in mood. These shifts in mood can be of several emotions like anxiety, anger, and tiredness. The excess of mood swings can make actors clinically depressed.
Personal Front
Major suicidal cases or deaths in the entertainment industry, when investigated, ends with a traumatic angle of personal life. It’s hard to believe but the mental health of celebrities who shine with infinite stardom are hugely affected by their personal front. This might be a struggling/broken relationship, financial issues, or family pressure. Reasons can be many but such cases end with a suicide note and loss of life.
Short-Lived Career
Actors with a short-lived career have more succumbed to mental health & depression as they are monetarily affected for a longer time with no assignments. This frustration affects their mental health and makes them gradually seep into mental trauma and depression.
Suicidal Celebrities Cases
Some celebs won their battle with depression and stood out as a real hero. But there’re many cases where the mental health of celebrities has touched the extreme level making them commit suicide and set themselves free from life’s pressure. Celebrities like Pratyusha Banerjee, Kushal Punjabi, Jiah Khan, Kuljeet Randhawa, Silk Smitha, Divya Bharati, etc., ended their lives in despair.
One of the recent suicidal cases that took Central attention was of Shushant Singh Rajput, the 34-year old actor who was found hanging in his Mumbai based Bandra house on 14th June 2020. The entire nation got flabbergasted when news channels started to telecast the live coverage of his house after the incident. However, the case is under the supervision of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Narcotics department, and the enforcement department.
Showbiz-Where glamour and Stardom Persists
Stars associated with the entertainment industry are celebrities who are ideal for their fans. They are apprised and worshipped for their acting skills on-screen. Some become icons and some fade away because of failure and lose their career. It’s an industry with mixed cases of successful and failure stories.
But the question remains unanswered as to why a celebrity chooses to end his/her life rather than opting to start a new phase of life. Is it the societal pressure or lack of psychological counseling that disturbs a healthy mind having the determination to achieve something in life?
What’s your opinion on it? Share your views in the comment box.