This Article is From May 26, 2018

Alia Bhatt's Sister Shaheen To Write A Book Describing Her Battle With Depression

Shaheen wants to write the book to help people understand that there's nothing wrong in accepting their condition

Alia Bhatt's Sister Shaheen To Write A Book Describing Her Battle With Depression

Alia Bhatt with her sister Shaheen. (Image courtesy: Instagram)

Highlights

  • Shaheen said she has been battling depression from the age of 13
  • Shaheen is a strong, creative girl: Soni Razdan
  • Alia Bhatt kept Shaheen in mind while preparing for Dear Zindagi
New Delhi: Actress Alia Bhatt's elder sister Shaheen is all set to become an author and her mother Soni Razdan told DNA that Shaheen writing a book describing her battle with depression. In November 2016, Shaheen revealed that she has been dealing with depression from the age of 13. Speaking to DNA, Soni Razdan, who was recently seen in Raazi with Alia Bhatt, said: "Shaheen is penning down her experiences in a book and she is doing it to help other people understand that there's nothing wrong in accepting your condition. Shaheen is a strong, creative girl. It's brave of her to talk about it on a platform like this. She is a great writer and when she told us about her decision to write the book, we were happy."

Shaheen in her aforementioned post had said she's neither 'ashamed' about her situation nor does she "take any pains to hide." She wrote: "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."

Here's Shaheen's post from November 2016:
 
 

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 post shared by Shaheen Bhatt (@shaheenb) on



Two days after this post, Alia Bhatt's Dear Zindagi hit the screens. In the film, Alia's character is also seen struggling with depression and the actress revealed that she prepared for the role keeping Shaheen in mind. "I can say that there are parts of me in the film which are inspired by her. The way she snaps the way she talks. And I told her this as well. I said a lot of this is you. Maybe I do feel very sensitive to this topic because of that. She has struggled with depression and insomnia. I sat and spoke to her and asked her what it feels like when you don't sleep," Alia Bhatt had said.

Several Bollywood celebs such as Deepika Padukone and Karan Johar have talked about their struggle with depression and mental illnesses. Deepika even founded Live Love Laugh, an organisation which aims to help people who need assistance to overcome mental illness.

Alia Bhatt and Shaheen are daughters of Mahesh Bhatt and Soni Razdan. Pooja and Rahul Bhatt are Alia and Shaheen's half-siblings.
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