Pooja Bhatt: Depression not rich person's disease

Pooja Bhatt

Pooja Bhatt, whose sister Shaheen battles with depression, says there is a fallacy that the disease is associated with the rich only. The Bhatt family recently came out in support for Shaheen, who has written a memoir about her struggles with depression. "We should never ask somebody why they are depressed. There is a fallacy that it's a rich people's disease and people often say that you have the luxury of being depressed. The misconception needs to be erased," Pooja said.

She added that people seek help from others because the matter is rarely discussed at their dinner tables. "If you cannot share it with your mother and your father and you [need to] go to your neighbour's house, then there is a failure in parenting somewhere." Pooja said she was thankful she could discuss things with her parents. "I am just glad that I was born in a family where I can come home and I can bare my soul. We need to listen to each other more. We live in a sick society, to begin with. So, don't tell your closed ones to take a pill or have a sound sleep."

Pooja added that Shaheen was always someone who looked at life intensely. "She always kind of heard more, saw more and frivolity of life did not appease her. So if she feels this way it's because there is something wrong with the world, and you can't fix it." She also addressed her alcoholism, stating that she needed to "mum" herself since she "couldn't fix the world".

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