Deepika To Take The Fight Against Depression Forward

Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone will be starting a campaign to spread awareness about depression through her NGO The Live Love Laugh Foundation (TLLLF). A program titled ‘You Are Not Alone’ will be launched soon and will try to educate teachers and high school students about the condition. It will focus on the stigma regarding mental health as well as stress, anxiety and depression.

According to a statement made by the ‘Bajirao Mastani’ actress, “Last year, I spoke about my own fight with depression as I felt I could not just sit by and watch as people who were going through what I had gone through. So, we decided to launch 'You Are Not Alone' with an idea to raise awareness and to enable students and teachers to identify signs of anxiety and depression”. The campaign aims to reach more than 500 schools this year.

The 30-year-old actress further stated, “We believe that schools can be the first line of defence for emotional and mental health disorders in our youth. We could also help connect the schools to counselling organizations and independent counsellors if they need such help”. She founded the NGO in June last year after her personal battle with depression.

Source: indianexpress.com