Bollywood actor Ananya Panday has spoken about her struggles with mental health, body-shaming and social media trolls in an interview with Barkha Dutt’s We The Women. She revealed how the intense bullying she faced during the early years of her film career took a toll on her, forcing her to seek therapy.
According to her, negative media comments online overwhelmed her, which made her break down most of the time. “I would just feel very, very down,” she said. The pressure grew when people began to taunt her for being a “nepo baby”– the daughter of the actors Chunky Panday and Bhavna Pandey. Even early in her career, she had to contend with a fake Instagram account suggesting that she had misrepresented her educational qualifications. She was dismissive, thinking no one would ever believe such a thing, but the situation went out of hand when people believed it and it further added to her emotional strain.
Discussing the influence of social media on mental health, Panday explained how even seemingly harmless comments would bother her subconsciously to the point where she couldn’t process her emotions. She said she initially ignored all the negative responses but somehow they would pile up over time and affect her wellbeing. Seeking therapy helped her deal with these feelings. “With therapy, I was just able to consolidate my feelings and articulate my thoughts a little better,” she explained.
Therapy helped her become aware of and manage the psychological weight that constant trolling and public scrutiny had built upon her mental health. She also recognized that discussions on mental health have been stigmatized, but this has improved in recent times, especially because celebrities are coming ahead and sharing their mental health journeys.
“I had been called everything from hunchback to flat chest to chicken leg and hairy,” she recalled. Unlike early times, wherein such insults would be confined only to the school, social media now amplifies every critique, making it even more difficult to escape such scrutiny. “The smallest of voices can be amplified across the world, and this is a scary time,” she added.
She admitted that it is hard to walk around a world that builds on criticism like an oxygen supply. However, she is optimistic that things will only get better because the stigma associated with discussing mental health issues is slowly disappearing. Her story reminded everyone that being able to talk about one’s struggles takes a lot of courage. As her experience shows, it’s important to seek help when your emotional well-being requires it.
With mental health increasingly becoming a subject of discussion, professionals recommend daily practice of mindfulness and meditation, regular workout sessions and maintaining healthy sleep patterns to control the stress level. Apart from such general practices, building more meaningful relationships with loved ones and restricting adverse social media content can also play an important role in achieving better mental health.
Ananya Panday not only shed light on her personal battles but also offered hope to others going through similar struggles, encouraging them to seek help and prioritize self-care.
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