Shaheen Bhatt comments on depression and Alia Bhatt's guilt over not knowing sooner. Photo: News18
Actress Alia Bhatt has been known to have had a close bond with her sister Shaheen Bhatt since she was young. Recently Shaheen came out about her sister’s comments regarding her admission of depression in the most wholesome of ways.
The 31-year-old authored a book where she came out about her tumultuous struggles with depression and how she kept it ‘hidden’ from her entire family since she was 12-years-old.
It was only in 2016 where Shaheen came out about her issues for the first time in a very raw and open manner. She explained, “everything triggered my anxiety – like the photoshoot incident with Alia & Pooja (Bhatt) where I was asked to step out of the frame as I was overweight & much darker…”
Shaheen also addressed Alia’s statement of feeling guilty over being blindsided towards her sister’s issues in the post. She wrote, “My family was really supportive. When Alia told me how guilty she felt about not knowing, I almost wished I’d opened up to her earlier (sic).”
In an attempt to highlight her struggles and express her point of view even further Shaheen explained on Instagram, “For 6 years, I avoided therapy because I didn’t want to seem ‘weak’ or ‘crazy’. It was my ‘problem’ & I could ‘fix it’! So, I tried to write away my depression in a journal – I believed that when the pen hit paper, I’d heal. That was my version of self-care! But it didn’t work. It took me becoming suicidal to realize I couldn’t keep my struggle a secret. So I started seeing a therapist, pushed myself out of hiding & shared my feelings with my loved ones (sic).”
She concluded her post by saying, “today, I accept & love myself in ways I never did before. I don’t wait for things to go bad to take care of my mental health–I deserve to be loved & cared for even on good days!”
