"I Got Burned Out": Taapsee Pannu Opens Up About Taking Therapy To Deal With Her Anxiety

People often associate mental health only with severe psychological distress or clinical depression. However, emotional well-being also involves learning to manage anxiety, finding peace with oneself and recognising when to seek support. On World Mental Health Day, Taapsee Pannu opened up about her evolving understanding of mental health. The actor shared her experience with therapy and how the pressures of online trolling and social media took a toll on her well-being.

In an interview with Hindustan Times, Taapsee said, "Like many of us in India, I used to think mental health support is required when you go crazy but slowly grew up to understand it's got dimensions more than that. I thought one approaches a therapist when touching clinical depression stage or when one cannot express what one is feeling but I realised mental health is also about being in the present and finding peace in what you have. If you aren't at peace, you constantly feel unstable and that's what showbiz can make you feel.”

The actor further spoke about the mental health challenges of being part of showbiz. She said, “I'm not going to romanticise it with fancy lines about knowing your self-worth. No matter how strong you are when your job and standing are largely dependent on everyone else's perception of you, what they say and feel about you, it's never easy."

Taapsee recalled that the scrutiny was particularly harsh during the early stages of her career and when she first joined social media. “I was trying this impossible task to make everyone happy. I got burnt out and it took me years to accept the situation. I realised I wasted years trying to appease trolls rather than spending that time working on myself as an actor or human being. I sacrificed a lot of time and braincells to understand this but sometimes trolling still affects me," she added. 

The actor explained why she eventually chose to step away from social media to protect her mental well-being. “I disconnected with social media after a point because I couldn't be dishonest about the person I am. I had the choice of being inactive on social media or being battered mentally so I chose the first option,” she said. 

Taapsee revealed that she herself turned to therapy during the Covid-19 pandemic. “The characters I play are mentally exhausting so I would travel somewhere where I could disconnect and forget about my work life. When Covid happened I didn't have that privilege and had to face my demons. I became more vulnerable and sensitive thats when I took some therapy sessions to learn the art of dealing with myself without running away," she concluded. 

On the work front, Taapsee Pannu's latest project Gandhari premiered on Netflix on September 3. 

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