It’s one thing to share our experiences, it’s another to think that other’s experiences don’t count. And we often do that when it comes to mental health. It’s even more concerning when celebrities pass ignorant comments on important platforms – given that whatever they say has an enormous reach. Recently, Nawazuddin Siddiqui did the same thing.
The actor made a remark about depression, and how he thinks that it is an ‘urban issue’. He was then asked to clarify his stand in an interview, where he elaborated that depression doesn’t exist in rural areas at all. According to him, it’s not the lack of awareness but an absence of mental health issues in rural settings. He also mentioned that people who are underprivileged and live in poverty are still ‘happy’ and do not deal with depression.
“Shehron mein aake hum apne chhote chhote emotions ko glorify karne lagte hain. Zyada seriously le lete hain hum apne aap ko.”
Nawazuddin Siddiqui further added that we glorify our emotions when we live in cities, given that we ‘have it all’. And so, it’s an exaggeration, where city-dwellers take themselves seriously. The most concerning part about this interview is that the actor labelled this as a FACT. The idea that depression or other mental health issues are self-inflicted or imaginary, is deeply ignorant. It’s also insensitive to disregard someone’s emotions, health or even problems that they might be facing.
People are rightly calling him out for this remark.
The actor’s comment is a representation of how our society views mental health. It also points out at the upsetting lack of awareness around it.