“We just need to keep our spirits alive and the light will arrive, the hidden hopes will rise and the world of positivity will be there to be cherished by every individual”.

Mental health is considered a taboo topic in India. Just like Voldemort’s name was forbidden in the magical land of Hogwarts, in the same way, people refrain from discussing the importance of mental health, thus opening the box of Pandora with their pitch silence. The debilitating disease taking advantage of the stigma involved hampers the productivity of a person, bringing down his/her quality of life. Even though the disease is treatable but with people remaining oblivious to the actual condition and treatment involved, the condition worsens affecting their work and relationships. Starting from common stress and anxiety, if not checked at the right time, the disease can lead to serious problems of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and clinical depression enhancing suicidal tendencies.

A celebrity is a unique persona made widely known to the public via media coverage, and whose life is publicly consumed as dramatic entertainment, and whose commercial brand is made profitable for those who exploit their popularity, and perhaps also for themselves. (Greg Jenner, 2020). Celebrities in the contemporary era are leveraging social media to share their traumatic experiences. Their disclosure about their mental stress journeys impacts the public. Celebrities boldly mention their mental health through various platforms, foundations, movies, books and social media. From Deepika’s foundation ‘Live Love Laugh’ and Shaheen Bhatt’s ‘Here Comes the Sun’ to her book ‘I Have Never Been (un) Happier’. Their revelation breaks the negative norm of stigma around mental health.

Celebrities are the public figures whom everyone wants to emulate, making their actions stand out from the rest of the world. Celebrities of the contemporary era are advocating one of the most dreaded issues of mental health thus creating an impact. ‘Mental illness isn’t something that should be swept under the carpet’ says celebrated actress Deepika Padukone who once was trapped in the same cage of exhaustion. Celebrities are trying to take off the sheet of unawareness, fear and insecurities wrapped around the mental- health.

REVOLUTION IN INDIAN MOVIES

The day-to-day monotonous life of people, getting trapped in a course that one wanted to get in to gain prestige but never was really in their heart does create a baggage of tensions and tough situations that are hardly easy to transcend. The spacious hollow is created in one’s fist-sized heart that is wrapped in spikes of sorrow. This strange kind of silence that prevails in a person with mental sickness is well portrayed in Rajesh Khanna and Waheeda Rehman’s 1969 movie, ‘Khamoshi’, which is undoubtedly a remarkable movie showing the void created in the hearts of lovers. With its unforgettable music lines “Vo sham kuch ajeeb thi ye sham kuch ajeeb hai, vo kal bhi pas pas thi, vo aj bi kareeb hai” leaves an indelible mark in memory of audience.

Even though in that phase of time the people with mental disorders were shown as dark-shade characters playing the role of villains who need electric shocks. These portrayals did impact the audience in a wrong way increasing the stereotype over the topic.

‘Andar se kuch aur hi hai hum’ the daunting dialogue by Ved (Ranbir Kapoor) in the Tamasha movie does reveal a lot about today’s haunting but yet silent truth of struggling youth.

The darkness of mental illness is revealed in the subtly created movie 15 Park Avenue in which the protagonist, Mitali suffers the worst of schizophrenic mental illness, creating her own world far from reality.

Films influence the audience’s perceptions and knowledge and thus the way psychiatric disorders are portrayed in film can greatly influence the way people view mental illnesses and treatment for them (Audry Mattle, 2019). The portrayal of mental illness in cinema has brought in a significant change in recent times. From showing them in the negative role to representing them as victims of a negative and toxic environment. The attitude of people has changed from despising them to understanding and empathising with them.

PARASOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS

‘Tera mera hai pyar amar’ but what if the deemed beloved has no idea of its praiser existence and doesn't even care to know the latter? A cocoon of an imaginary world is created around the follower with an illusionary person, usually a celebrity, thus getting indulged in the darkness of a para-social relationship. A parasocial relationship involves an enduring, one-sided connection between a viewer and a public figure. The audience member imagines that they have a powerful, enduring bond with the media figure, who does not reciprocate the relationship and is unaware of the viewer ( Lauren Martin, 2022). Parasocial interactions and relationships (PSI/PSR) are symbolic, one-sided social ties that individuals imagine with media figures and celebrities (Hortona and Wohl, 1956). From fictional characters of books to protagonists and antagonists of movies, parasocial relationships can be formed with anyone whom the reader or viewer likes or feels infatuated with. People today are engrossed in the virtual world but forming an imaginary relationship with their ideals they weave a world of illusion around them. It is easier to form parasocial relationships now than ever before (Dr Adam Borland PsyD). Parasocial relationships may interfere with a person’s real-life relationships or daily life, especially if they take the place of real-life interactions and relationships. They can contribute to anxiety, loneliness, and social isolation, especially if they involve social media (Lauren Martin, 2022).

WAYS TO STAY BRAIN FIT

What is the solution of coming out of familiar yet worst, and used to feelings that can latch on a human with their sharp claws? - the answer is awareness, awareness of intricate psychology that needs counselling, an understanding companion and like any other body part, just like our nose contracts cold and becomes stuffed in the same way the brain too gets loaded with negatives and needs to be relaxed in some form and that can be exercise and medicines too, and that is completely normal.

YOUR BRAIN NEEDS YOU

We need time to renew our souls, and our minds and take adequate rest from the fast track unending race, taking deep breaths and stopping overthinking, what others did with us or can do to denigrate us but just what best we can do for ourselves.

NOTHING WRONG IN BEING A LITTLE SELFISH

Start to live for yourself, care for yourself and love yourself because your body deserves your attention. Every part of your body needs care just as your family members and friends need your company. So, never neglect your desires, your inner voice should always be positive, keeping nihilism at bay.

PRAYING IS NOT THE PROPER SOLUTION

The staunch faith in God holds the utmost importance in our daily activities, but depression is that dark confinement that needs a right Guru to open the doors of light for us and guide us on the right path of lifestyle. So, instead of following the astrologers alone, one needs to visit a psychiatrist without any shame and regret.

NORMALISING MENTAL STRESS AND SICKNESS

Therapist and therapy is a common word in the West but in Asia, it is still dreaded about and people take it as equal to getting crazy and losing mental control that worsens the graph in India. According to WHO 5.7 million people in India suffer through mental illness

The fact is a patient can definitely take a u-turn and return to his normal senses when provided with proper care and medicine among which most of the cases go unnoticed.

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