Supermodel Bella Hadid has battled depression and anxiety since her teens and she said that she spent a lot of time managing it. She observed this while talking to an American magazine (“This is why supermodel Bella Hadid cried every day for three years,” March 21, 2022, Gulf Today”).

During an appearance on Wall Street Journal’s My Monday Morning, the 25-year-old model discussed her experiences with anxiety in response to a question about her secret to putting together a “great outfit,” with Hadid explaining that she hasn’t had a stylist in nearly two years, and that being on her own contributed to her struggles with mental health.

A few years back, Bollywood superstar Deepika Padukone too had suffered from mental health issues, while superstar Aamir Khan’s daughter Ira Khan also posted video sharing her experience of managing mental health woes on and off.  

This is something very serious and our society should do something to deal with it from an early stage. There has to be awareness on mental health issues.

I am happy to see global celebrities talking about it openly now. This will help others too. Others can learn from their experiences. There was a time when people would avoid touching mental health subjects. It was considered taboo for society.

But people have changed a lot, now they are accepting it as an issue and are knocking at the door of mental health professionals without feeling shy about asking for help.

We should acknowledge that like physical wellbeing, mental wellbeing is also very important. The way we don’t hesitate in talking about physical illness, we should also not hesitate in talking about mental issues. It is an illness and this can happen to any one at any stage. So there is nothing wrong with it.  

Anil Kumar,
By email