If it takes us a death to get us to speak about a thing, something that should’ve been spoken a long time ago, how many more deaths would it take us to destigmatize Mental Health?
The suicide of Sushant Singh Rajput was a big shocker. The last I had seen him, he was happy and goofy with his friends in a movie called ‘Chichhore,’ where his character had a somewhat different approach to suicide. The last I had known him (not personally though), he was a celebrity with movies doing great at the box office, and I assumed he was leading a rather peaceful life. He had a film lined up that was an adaptation to the novel, ‘Fault in our stars’ that got delayed due to the Pandemic. All in all, quite peaceful as per my postulation.
No assumptions of mine had ever anticipated the anguish and struggle that only he was going through. That was because I always thought of him as a celebrity, wealthy enough to survive the lockdown without having to go to work. A famous face in the TV industry who made it big on his own. How could anyone with such a peaceful life succumb to the arms of Depression at the age of 34 (as quoted by sources)?
This is what Mental health is all about. The happiest of the faces might have darker stories, and they struggle on their own. To the world, they are comfortable and leading a very fancy life, but, in reality, we have no idea about their true story.
We are often made to mask our feelings because we are too young, too wealthy, too well to do, too old, too happy to be feeling a certain way. But I don’t think there’s ever a precedent about WHO exactly should feel sad or depressed or low.
We live in a society where it is okay to be silent. It is fine to be battling with things in the head because, at the end of the day, “It’s all in your head.”
We live around those who deem it exceedingly sinful to be talking about Depression because this is not real.
We live with a few who would leave no stone unturned to get you more anxious than you already are.
We live in a place where it’s perfect to be resorting to superstitions but psychological aid, because “No one wants to go to a Mental Doctor.”
We shouldn’t come up with our struggles because we are seeking attention and sympathies at the end of the day.
However, one death and all of it changes. REALLY?
Although I am glad to see everyone considering Mental Health for once, talking about it, but at what cost? It took the death of an eminent personality for us to believe that something known as Depression is real.
It's been a month since everyone has 'opened' their doors to everyone. But why now? Were there zombies outside your doors before 14th June 2020?
Suddenly, everyone's all ears about everyone's issues. Where were your ears before 14th June 2020? Probably shut because you did not care.
Around us, in fact, in our own families, some people have fallen into the arms of Depression. But do we know about it?
Depression is a state that needs to be carefully fathomed. We cannot control our minds to feel a certain way, and this is a crucial thing to understand. Telling a person, "You're overthinking, stop thinking about IT" is next to telling a hungry person not to think about hunger. These feelings cannot be controlled and one cannot attempt to just move on!
A person who did a movie on how one shouldn’t resort to suicide ended up doing it. One may call it a coward act, a selfish act, an act that’s not heroic, an act that was based on irrationality.
A thing to note is, Depression turns off your rationality. It makes you think in the most bizarre manner possible (at least that is what happened with me), and before you know it, you are too late to undo what you’ve done, or the action is irreversible.
I resent the way things ended up for a lot of people who have succumbed to the arms of Depression and other Mental illnesses. No one knows what goes in their mind, except for the person himself, and I am extremely sad for how at times, people do not see any other way out from when things go haywire mentally. I have been there and I resonate with those who currently feel the same way!
Probably if there were more souls who widened their mindsets, accepted other humans with more warmth - today the world would be a better place for everyone where no one masks their emotions and feelings.
But there’s something I still want to ask, “Why did it take the death of someone going through Depression when we could’ve avoided it altogether?”
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