It's World Mental Health Day, and you can expect Deepika Padukone to show up for the cause. For those who don't know, the actor is the Founder of Live Love Laugh, a foundation committed to spreading awareness, fostering empathy, and inspiring change. The organisation has also completed 10 years, and together with her sister and the CEO of Live Love Laugh, Anisha Padukone, the actor visited Chhindwara, Madhya Pradesh.
Not just that, in an interview with CNBC-TV18, the actor recalled that many people called it a publicity stunt when she opened up about her mental illness on national television. In 2014, the actor suffered from depression, and it was her mother who first realised that she was struggling with an ailment. Following her recovery, she opened the LLL Foundation, which has been running awareness programmes in rural India, and Padukone says that in the Chhindwara district, everyone can witness the change and impact that the organisation has been able to create.
Speaking about how the pandemic had a role to play in changing the perception around mental health, she said, "If anyone had any doubt that mental illness doesn't exist, I think post-COVID, it's become very clear." She added that even the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, emphasised the subject through Mann Ki Baat or Pariksha Pe Charcha.
She added that while there is still stigma around mental illnesses, the perception has been changing. She added, "People talk about it more openly." She shared that when they laid the foundation for the organisation, they did not know what the team was going to be, but she knew that she had a personal experience with mental illness and going public about it was not enough. "I knew very early on that this was something I wanted to share with the world, but also to do something more," she further said.
Padukone shared that people were sceptical of her. They asked, "Was she being paid by a pharmaceutical company?" She added, "I remember saying to the team, even then, we just need to put our heads down and continue to do the work. The team was doing incredible work and was still hesitant to take the credit for it. One day, I said, I think the time has come for us to start taking ownership of the work we're doing because we've proven ourselves."
She further added, "I do feel like more and more people are talking about it [mental health], covering it, and including it. There is so much more that we can do, but definitely, in the last 10 years, we have come a long way."