Shruti Haasan Opened Up About Battling An Anxiety Disorder While Growing Up
Growing up in an Indian household, the concept of mental health was never taken seriously. Actually, it was completely ignored. Have you ever told your mother that you needed counselling? No matter what the issue is, she will tell you to sleep it off or blame it on how much time you spend on your phone. It’s not their fault though. They were never taught to consider mental health either. Not to mention, because of all the stigma that surrounds it, people look at mental health issues as weaknesses. It’s only now, largely thanks to the lockdown and outspoken celebrities, that we have been able to slightly change the narrative. Most recently, Shruti Haasan opened up about her battle with anxiety ever since she was a child. We love her for always keeping it real!
In an interview with Pinkvilla, Shruti Haasan spoke about her struggles with anxiety and the importance of mental health. She said that she had anxiety ever since she was a child but only recognized it when she was in her 30s. Shruti emphasized the importance of talk therapy and said that has always been so outspoken about her mental health issues because she doesn’t want others to suffer the way she did.
Shruti Haasan told Pinkvilla, “It took me a long time to come to terms with it. I have had anxiety for many years, and I think it was triggered by certain traumas which is the case with most people. Trauma feels like a very heavy word, but anything can trigger it. Trauma is basically something that’s inflicted, (it) could be large or small. That’s why it’s a bit complicated with anything with mental health because what may be traumatic for you may not be traumatic for me. But it is the way each individual’s mind processes trauma, and there are various reactions to it. In my case the reaction was anxiety.”
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Also Read: Shruti Haasan Says Our Society Isn’t Conducive To Women Being Open About Their Relationships
She further adds, “So as a child I felt a little bit more competitive energy would affect me negatively. Getting on stage was a phobia for the longest time. When I started singing and performing on stage, since I was 19 I was in music school, I would get these symptoms of really bad anxiety. But I just thought I was not steely, courageous or strong enough for this big bad world. It took me many years, I think actually into my 30s to realise that I had an anxiety disorder.”
A lot of people with mental health disorders find it very difficult to open up about them. Some fear societal judgement, some are ashamed about feeling the way they do and some just can’t find the right words. In Shruti’s case, she never talked about anxiety disorder with anyone growing up not because she feared judgement but because she felt like she was supposed to have it all together. She said, “…In fact, you are mostly trying to keep up the garb or image of being all right. For me it wasn’t fear of being judged, for me, the fear was ‘I am supposed to have my s*** together’, ‘I am supposed to be okay. For different people, there are different triggers. In my case, my parents wouldn’t judge me. But that could translate into various things, so it’s difficult to talk at first for anybody.”
We need to talk about mental health as much as we can. If we can go to the doctor for fever or a stomach ache, why can’t we go to a psychiatrist to treat depression or anxiety? It’s time we bust through these harmful stigmas society has created.
We love Shruti Haasan for always being so real and relatable!
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