Recently in the capital, actress Deepika Padukone has launched the lecture series of her Live Love Laugh foundation.
Ever since Deepika came out with her story of dealing with depression, mental health and promoting an empathetic discussion around it has been the center of her agenda. Deepika, who herself dealt with depression became one of the first celebrities in Bollywood to break the stigma by starting an open dialogue around mental health.
Deepika launched her project Live Love Laugh Foundation four years ago, and now, she took another step towards helping people fight depression, by launching her first lecture series on mental health.
At the launch event of her lecture series held in the capital, Deepika was accompanied by her sister Anisha Padukone and her parents Prakash Padukone and Ujjala Padukone.
While talking about the journey of her foundation at the event, Deepika said, “I think it has been an incredible journey. The Live Love Laugh foundation has been here for four years now. As far as the conversation around the importance of mental health is concerned, I think that we have come a long way. I think the media has had a huge role to play in opening up the conversation in various ways. Whether it is interviews, write-ups, articles, it’s come through in various ways.”
Also, she opened up on how her lecture series will help people cope up with depression, and said, “I think we most certainly have a long way to go and that’s why we have the lecture series today. We invited people from different professions, various parts of the world, but most importantly, people who are passionate about mental health and have them talk to us about their journeys, their experiences. I think this will open up the conversation and take it to the next level.”
While talking about the problems she faced in this journey, the actress said, “I think the conversation has really opened up. I don’t think there is as much stigma as there used to be four years ago. But we certainly have a long way to go in creating awareness. I think that’s where we need to keep the conversation alive.”
