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Submitted by PatientsEngage on 22 March 2015

36% of Indians suffer from depression according to WHO. 100,000 people commit suicide every year. 

Deepika, her mother Ujjala, and her doctors Dr. Anna Chandy and Dr. Shyam talk about it, about the need for family support, the need to talk about it and ask for help and to undergo counselling and treatment

Deepika: I think physically what is happening is this weird pittish feeling, emptiness. My breathing was different, it was not a deep breath, it was very shallow, uneven breath, sometimes gasping for breath. I would say feeling empty in my stomach and they had explained it as the pittish feeling,  that is the first thing I said to them because that was the feeling that wouldn't just go. It felt like knot in my stomach. if I have had  malaria or if I hurt my ankle I always had my mind to help me recover. What  do I do in  a case like this when my mind is not talking to me.

Dr. Shyam: I want to make one thing clear that sadness is good, sadness is a part of human experience. We all need to feel sad, what we talking here is depression and depression is not sadness.

Dr. Shyam: I want to say that this is nothing to be ashamed of, this is not a weakness and this is not madness, seek help and you don't have to suffer, seeking helping will enhance your life in a very positive way and I think socially if we take care of this we will get back to certain values that are important like connection, empathy and love .

Ujjala: Talk about what you are going through to people close to you and for the people to whom you have spoken to I would say don't just dismiss it, don't try to shove it under the carpet or dismiss it as attention seeking or mood swings, try to find out and if it is an ailment that is bothering a person don't hesitate to get professional help and don't hesitate to talk about it to people around you. There is nothing to hide about it, it's like any other ailment.

Deepika:  First of all, I would  not have been able to do if I didn't have this support system, if I didn't have my mom , if I didn't have my friends, if I didn't have my father who spoke to me and said its OK to go to a doctor, its ok to go to a psychologist, it's ok to go to a  psychiatrist and its ok to take medication.

http://www.ndtv.com/video/player/we-the-people/let-s-talk-depression-deepika-padukone-s-story/360487

http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/full-transcript-lets-talk-depression-deepika-padukones-story-748527

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