Friends help Samantha recover from mental health issues

Samantha Ruth Prabhu (right) spoke about the importance of mental health as she recounted her own struggles with stress and anxiety during an event in Hyderabad, India, on Sunday.

The South Indian actress, who was the chief guest at the launch of the "psychiatry at your doorstep" initiative by Roshni Trust and Datla Foundation, provided an insight into how she has handled those issues.

The 34-year-old, who separated from Telugu actor Naga Chaitanya, 35, in October last year opened up about her mental health struggles and how counsellors and friends helped her overcome those problems.

"There should be no inhibitions about seeking help when you are mentally disturbed," she said.

"In my case, I was able to overcome my mental health issues only with the help of my counsellors and friends."

The actress, who launched the doorstep service in the presence of businesswoman Mahima Datla and designer Shilpa Reddy, also stressed that seeking help from psychiatrists must be normalised.

"Like how we go to a doctor for physical injuries, we also should consult doctors if our heart gets hurt," she said.

"If I am successful for the next part of my life, it is not because I was strong. But it is because many people around me helped me to be strong.

"A lot of people are spending a lot of time and effort to help. It's time for all of us to do our bit as well."

Samantha, who along with Chaitanya was the hottest couple in the Telugu film industry, said there is pressure to show a "perfect" life on social media but "no one's life is perfect".

"We live in an increasingly stressful world where there is so much focus, whether it is on social media, on portraying perfect lives," she said. "It is becoming more difficult to speak about our weaknesses, our pain, our anxiety because there is so much focus.

"Being very active on social media, I noticed the stress on portraying perfect lives. No one's life is perfect, trust me.

"I think it is time for people like us, people like me most definitely, to speak about not just the glitz and glamour but also the pain, the suffering, the lows.

"It is normal for all of us to go through that, it is too normal to talk about it and it is normal to ask for help."

After Samantha announced her separation from Chaitanya following almost four years of marriage, she slammed rumours of her affairs and abortions, vowing not to be broken by the personal attacks.

She will next be seen in Vignesh Shivan's film Kaathu Vaakula Rendu Kaadhal, which also stars Nayanthara and Vijay Sethupathi and will release in theatres next month.

Indo-Asian News Service

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