Bollywood star Deepika Padukone last year made a revelation that she was diagnosed with depression a few years ago and she has since then worked towards shattering the stigma and shame around mental illness and depression. In 2015 she opened up about her depression in public talking about it in length and this was the reason why only six months later she founded an organisation The Live Love Laugh Foundation along with her sister Anisha.

Deepika Padukone who is riding high on her movie Padmavat success, with her organisation, The Live Love Laugh Foundation on Friday, unveiled a report on public perception towards mental health in the country.

Speaking at the launch of the landmark report the 32-year-old actress and founder of TLLLF said that the research initiative is part of our ongoing efforts in order to build a better understanding about mental health in our country. The research shows that over a quarter of the respondents are willing to be supportive in many aspects, while the others remaining are either judgmental or fearful of those people who are affected by mental illness. The event which was held in New Delhi made Deepika talk about mental illness along with trustees Anna Chandy and Dr Shyam Bhat.

She also added that it is absolutely critical that we as a society work together towards increasing the awareness, reducing the stigma and normalising the need to seek support for mental illness. 

How India Perceives Mental Health is a report to gauge the public perception of mental health across eight Indian cities and was conducted on 3556 males and females all across the country and it has revealed that 87% of respondents associate mental illness with severe disorders, example schizophrenia and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and their symptoms.

The survey also revealed a high prevalence of stigma with 47% of people who use the word retard to describe people who are suffering from mental illness. What was even more disturbing that 60% of respondents believe that people with mental illness should have their own groups in order to avoid contaminating healthy people and 68% were of the opinion that they should not be given any responsibility 60% believe that mental illness is caused by lack of self-discipline.

This kind of findings definitely should be given attention and the work should be done in unity to help people who are fighting depression and mental illness. They are normal people just suffering from a short-term illness which can be cured with lots of support and love.