Celina Jaitly Haag candidly opens up on her battle with depression

Even with the world coming far in the fight against taboos around mental illnesses and shame, Bollywood is still staggeringly behind. In an attempt to get the ball rolling, Celina Jaitly Haag came out with a heartfelt conversation surrounding depression.

She revealed that through her struggle her husband Peter Haag not only stood by her side through it all, but he also gave up a great deal for her well-being.

During her interview with Pinkvilla, the actor touched upon the truth behind love, claiming, “The true test of all romances and candlelight’s and valentine hearts boils down to times like this when one is down and out.” Celina believes, “My husband was the Chief Commercial Officer of one of the leading organisations in the world when the depression hit me. I was rendered completely helpless. On the advice of doctors, he decided to resign, and for me to have a complete change in the fresh mountain air, he moved us back to our Alpine estate in Austria.”

Further in the interview, she spoke about how she overcame the debilitating condition, claiming, “I honestly did not realise the sacrifice he was making for me because I was very low at that time. To be taken care of and be loved anyhow is something that I experienced during this entire phase.”

“Getting better from depression is a lifelong commitment. Depression mostly doesn’t show. It lives within, and people don’t recognise it, worrying that it will shatter their very being. The frequent attempt to conceal mental pain increases the burden. Therefore, get help, eliminate from your life all those who bring you down or add to the negativity, exercise (believe me, it helps), don’t be shy to ask for help.”

Before concluding she added, “The broken will always be able to love harder than most because once you’ve been in the dark, you learn to appreciate everything that shines."