Former 'Bigg Boss' and 'Roadies' contestant Renee Dhyani opens up on battling depression and facial paralysis

Pic Courtesy: Instagram

New Delhi: Renee Dhyani rose to fame with reality show ' MTV Roadies' season 8 and was later seen in another popular show 'Bigg Boss 8'. She became a household name with TV shows such as 'Kasam Tere Pyaar Ki', 'Yeh Teri Galiyan' to name a few.

Renee recently opened up about battling depression and facial paralysis. In an interview with Timesofindia.com, she revealed, “Initially, I couldn’t understand what was happening to me. I would suddenly break into tears, throw things around and yell. I was not mentally healthy, and was also harming myself.”

The actress was in a relationship with a co-star from 'Kasam...' Lalit Bisht.

Adding more, she said, “I have been battling depression since a year now. It also led to facial paralysis. The left side of my face was affected and I lost confidence. For an actor, her face is the tool of expression. I would cover my left profile with my hair and stopped attending events. I also started avoiding scenes where I had to shout. I was constantly doing rounds of hospitals and was even admitted several times. The team of the show would call doctors, who would give me injections and I would be able to shoot only after that. I was also dealing with hypertension syndrome and PCOD. In fact, there have been times when I had to call a doctor at home in the middle of the night to attend to my health woes. My team was considerate enough to let me take it easy. I haven’t recovered completely, as I still experience twitching on my face while talking.”

“I come across as this fiery and feisty girl, who won’t take anything lying low. But I experienced a lot of pain because of my relationship. Lalit and I have known each other since our Delhi days and both of us are pahadis. We were friends and started dating while working on 'Kasam'. His career did not shape up according to his expectations and I would always blame myself for it. He would also blame me during our fights. I started having severe mood swings, and would start crying without a reason during the shoot. He never visited me when I was hospitalised. In fact, he was so self-centered that he didn’t even want to know what was happening in my life. I guess, he needed space and I had to take care of myself.”

She further said that finally after she talked about it to her sister, she advised her to address the issue. Renee added that it was her mother who gave golden advice of not letting anything harm her. The actress revealed that it was then she decided to take external help from a counsellor and also ended her relationship three months back.

Renee was constantly in the news while she stayed inside the Bigg Boss house and also as a participant in the adventure reality show 'Roadies'.