Deepika Padukone opens up on her fear of slipping into depression again

New Delhi: Bollywood's current top actress Deepika Padukone might be enjoying a superstar status now but the tall and talented actor did have her rough times. A few years back, Dippy had opened up about battling depression during a particular period of time when professionally she wasn't doing that great.

The actress, who was present in the capital spoke at a discussion titled "Finding Beauty in Imperfection", organised by FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO) on Saturday.

Deepika talked about her fear of slipping into depression again. PTI quoted her as saying, “When I start feeling anxious, I feel a knot in my stomach. I immediately know that I need to take care of myself and control my thoughts. Maybe breathe better and sleep more. It has created so much awareness about my physical well-being. Because it was such a bad experience for me that I'm always aware now. Obviously, that fear of slipping into it again is there. I would never want to experience that again. So I'm always aware of my thoughts, feelings and emotions."

She added that it was her mother, Ujjala Padukone, who realised that she was suffering from depression.

"In my case I didn't know what I was feeling or going through and fortunately, it was my mother who was my care giver and recognised my symptoms in the early stages. I was not feeling motivated anymore, I didn't know why I wasn't happy in my life and she was the one who took me to a counsellor who immediately recognised that I needed medical help.”

"I felt completely transparent. There was no fear of being judged and today I think it just made me a much happier person. It made me understand how fragile life is. It's made me much more sensitive to people's thoughts, feelings and emotions," she added.

"We very easily judge people and label them. Everyone has a backstory.... It is very easy to pass a judgement about someone and say something about someone. But when you understand what someone has been through, it just makes you a lot more aware of the people around you," she said.

"When I start feeling anxious, I feel a knot in my stomach. I immediately know that I need to take care of myself and control my thoughts. Maybe breathe better and sleep more.

(With PTI inputs)