Zaira Wasim, who shot to fame after the movie Dangal, revealed that she was suffering from ‘severe anxiety and depression’ in a note shared on all her social media pages on 11 May.
The National Award winning actress, who was last seen in Secret Superstar, writes that she had always been ‘scared and embarrassed’ to accept her condition because of the ‘stigma attached to the word depression’ and she was always told that she was ‘too young’ to be depressed’ or that it was ‘just a phase’.
“Popping 5 antidepressants everyday, anxiety attacks, being rushed to the hospital in the middle of the night, feeling empty, restless, anxious, hallucinations, having sore limbs from sleeping too much to not being able to sleep for weeks, from overeating to starving myself, unexplained fatigue, body ache, self loathing, nervous breakdowns, suicidal thoughts were all parts of this PHASE,” Zaira wrote in her post on Facebook.
“From overeating to starving myself, unexplained fatigue, body ache, self loathing, nervous breakdowns, suicidal thoughts, were all parts of this phase,” wrote Zaira.
Her first panic attack was at the age of 12, and another one at 14.
“Now all I remember is losing count of the number of panic attacks, losing count of the number of medicines I've had and I'm still having.”
Zaira said she could never accept the fact that she suffers from a disorder called depression, which “affects almost 350 million people worldwide; without asking for their permission to ruin their mental and emotional state or asking them their age.”
Read the full post here:
Depression and anxiety is not a feeling, she said.
“It's an illness. It's not somebody's choice or fault. It can affect anyone, anytime.”
Zaira writes that she remembers being told that ‘there’s no such thing as depression’ and it only happened to ‘people who were above 25’.
Zaira said perhaps a “complete break from everything, my social life, my work, school and especially social media” might help her.
“I’m really looking forward to the holy month of Ramadan as it may be the perfect opportunity to figure things out. Please remember me in your prayers.”
(With inputs from IANS)
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