Pakistani superstar Mahira Khan became a sensation in India after she starred opposite Shah Rukh Khan in the 2017 film Raees. The actress recently opened up about being diagnosed with bipolar disorder and shared that the backlash she received after the release of Raees only made things worse for her by triggering her symptoms.
Mahira was a guest on the FWhy podcast when she spoke about her mental health in great detail. “I ended up in a psychiatrist’s office and she said, ‘We’ll talk about everything later, but I need you to know that you have manic depression’. This is the first time I’m saying that, I don’t know if I should. It’s been six-seven years, and I’ve been on anti-depressants. I tried leaving them in the middle, and I went into a very, very dark space,” she said.
The actress further shared that the situation became worse after Pakistani artists were banned from working in India after the 2016 Uri attack. The actress said that she is currently back on medication after taking a brief break last year. She revealed that her condition worsened when she was off her meds.
“Last year, I was bad, I was in bed… I remember, very well, that I couldn’t even get up from my bed to go to the bathroom. I was that bad, it was that dark. I remember praying, ‘I promise you Allah, if you show me even this much hope or light, I will take it and I will run with it.’ And when he did, and when I went back on my medicines, I woke up feeling like, ‘Oh my god, I feel like I can smile, feel lighter’,” the actress shared.
Mahira added, “Everyone has sad times and happy times and success and failure, but clinical depression is real…Even in my darkest, worst moments, I never project it. It’s all inside me, mere andar tabahi mach rahi hai, but… It’s been a journey with my depression. I’ve had to work through it, I’ve had to dance through it…” She said that while she did experience certain triggers, some of it was also genetic.
Mahira also thanked her family, friends, therapist and “the person (she) is with right now” for standing by her in her time of difficulty.
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