New Delhi, 23 November 2020: Kunal Nayal, a 33-year-old man from Maligan village of Koraput block, has had depression for many years but was not getting proper treatment. Due to the stigma and myths surrounding mental illness, he relied on faith healers which obviously did not help.
Who could have helped him in this situation in a country like India where mental illness is still a taboo? Even family members couldn’t. He was rescued by none other than the Bollywood heartthrob Deepika Padukone who herself has faced a similar situation. Established by Padukone, The Live Love Laugh Foundation (TLLLF) came forward and worked with Kunal’s carers and encouraged the family to take Kunal to a mental health camp so he could receive a formal diagnosis for his condition and medication.
At first, the family was reluctant to take Kunal to a mental health camp as they believed mental illness was a curse from God and could therefore only be cured spiritually. However, after educative and informative discussions, Kunal was accompanied to a mental health camp by his carers and began taking prescribed medication. Now, Kunal has his medication regularly and this has resulted in his condition stabilising. Kunal’s family would earlier stay home to care for him, but are now able to leave home and go to work, thereby improving the family’s economic condition. Additionally, Kunal is also able to assist his family in income-generating activities.
Like Kunal, lakhs of people in India who can be termed Persons with Mental Illness (PWMIs) are not able to get proper treatment.
Deepika Padukone realised this fact when she herself suffered depression in 2014 when she was at the peak of her career. She feels good that her mother recognised it at an early stage and suggested her to seek medical help. Getting control of her mental health, she decided to fight with the stigma around it and established TLLLF. Whenever she gets an opportunity, she chooses to talk about it publicly and speaks at length. Her foundation also aims to spread awareness about mental health and offer help to those who are affected.
Established on June 1, 2015 in Bengaluru, the Foundation’s main aim is to reduce the stigma and create awareness around mental health.
The Foundation has a website where it offers different kinds of help to people who are going through mental health issues. The website explains issues like stress, anxiety and depression in detail. It also has a helpline where people-in-need can make a call or can locate a therapist. It updates all relevant information about mental health issues.
The Foundation also runs several programmes and has influenced many lives through it. Like, it launched a programme called ‘You Are Not Alone’ which aims at educating high school students and teachers on stress, anxiety and depression. In the very first year, it reached out to 34,023 high school students and 6,480 teachers across 5 states in over 276 schools in India, including more than 100 non-English medium schools
The Foundation’s second programme is called ‘Together Against Depression’. It is aimed to sensitise doctors and seek their support, particularly general physicians, about depression. In the very first year of this programme, the Foundation reached 2,000 doctors.
In October 2019, TLLLF became the first winner from India of the prestigious Dr Guislain ‘Breaking the Chains of Stigma’ Award. The award is named after Dr Joseph Guislain (1797- 1860) Belgium’s first psychiatrist and a pioneer in the treatment of people with mental illness. It highlights an individual, project, or organisation across the world that has made an exceptional contribution to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness.
TLLLF Founder Deepika Padukone also received the 26th Annual Crystal Award given by World Economic Forum, during the opening session of the World Economic Forum’s 2020 Annual Meeting held in Davos in January, for her leadership in raising mental health awareness.
