In a recent chat with Barkha Dutt on NDTV, Karan Johar revealed that he’s been suffering from anxiety and depression, and only realised that when he went to the doctor for what he thought was a heart attack. According to the filmmaker, he was in a meeting, when he felt like he was going to cardiac arrest – and immediately drove to a doctor, who told him what he was really having was an anxiety attack. From there, he saw a psychologist, who said he’s suffering from depression.
It was the darkest period of my life. I can’t explain the pain, anxiety, anguish. [I felt] helpless. Unhappy. Sad. Wanting to get onto a flight, always leaving the city… and walking the streets of other cities with nothing to say to anyone. Not even getting out of my bed from my hotel room sometimes. I wasn’t able to share this with anyone. I was making up meetings and reasons for me to leave the city. I found comfort in sleeping on a long-haul flight, waking up in a city where I didn’t have to meet people.
After seeing a psychologist, he was put on immediate medication, which he only stopped about three months ago.
Really glad that more people in the industry are speaking up about mental health. (Ileana D’Cruz also recently told us about suffering from body dysmorphic disorder.) It just goes to show that anyone can suffer from mental health issues – and getting the help needed is absolutely necessary.
You can watch the full video here.