Deepika Padukone bats for mental health awareness at The Live Love Laugh Foundation event. See pics

Back in 2015, Deepika Padukone opened up in public about her battle with depression. She took the masses by surprise by admitting to have been suffering from clinical depression at the pinnacle of her career. For this move, Padukone also received widespread appreciation for removing the stigma about mental health. Six months later, she founded an organisation The Live Love Laugh Foundation with her sister Anisha Padukone to reduce stigma and spread awareness about mental health in India.

In collaboration with Kantar Public, the Live Love Laugh Foundation conducted a survey to map the mental health landscape in India. It was conducted with an intention to understand and mould people’s perception towards mental illnesses and depression.

The study was conducted on 3,556 males and females across eight cities of the country. It revealed that about 87% people demonstrated high awareness about mental illness but also showed stigma against the people battling the mental illnesses. Out of the 87% people who showed awareness about mental illness, 71% people showed stigma against the same.

Addressing the issue of misconception that only successful people suffer from depression, TLLLF founder Deepika Padukone said, “When we were talking about more celebrities coming out and speaking and when we were talking about stigma, there is a lot of miscommunication that depression happens to people who are successful.”

Deepika Padukone is one of those Bollywood celebrities who opened up about her battle with depression at the pinnacle of her career. In 2015, during an interview to a leading news channel, Deepika spoke at lengths about her clinical depression and how she came out of it with the help of her family and friends.