Meet superstar’s sister who battled depression, panic attacks, tried to kill herself at 12; now owns…

They say Bollywood is a glamorous world where people can get lost, as it isn’t always what it seems onscreen. Today, we’re going to talk about a director's daughter and a superstar's sister who struggled with depression at the age of 12.

We’re talking about Shaheen Bhatt, the daughter of well-known director Mahesh Bhatt and Alia Bhatt's sister. During a panel discussion, Shaheen spoke about mental health issues and said, "I never planned to talk about my mental health, but one day I was lying in bed trying to find a picture to post on social media. I realized I was only looking for happy pictures, which was the opposite of how I actually felt. This made me understand that I wanted to share my true feelings with the world."

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Shaheen Bhatt (@shaheenb)

She said, "The reason I felt this way is because no one ever chooses to talk about it and your reflex to ‘How you are feeling?’ is always ‘Oh, I am good.’ We are constantly wearing this mask and pretending to be someone else.”

While talking about her childhood, Shaheen said, “As a child I felt like the only way to prove myself was by being intelligent and hardworking. Everytime i felt short of that felt really bad, it felt horrible. I felt really lucky for the fact that I have such supportive parents who have always told me to just do my best and that any outcome that comes is okay with them, not only this they have never pressured me to be a top-ranking student.”

When she wanted to kill herself

Mahesh Bhatt once told IANS, “My daughter Shaheen, Alia’s elder sister, she, at the age of 16 discovered finally that she is suffering from clinical depression. In October, she is launching her own memoir in which she has talked about the kind of struggle she has gone through in that phase. She also came to a point of attempting a suicide at the age of 12-13 so this is the truth of my own house. Jiah Khan once came to us asking for work but that time somehow, we were not able to work with her, but later when she committed suicide and we visited her house it felt really bad,” he said.

While talking to Vogue, Shaheen said, "I’ve lived with depression since I was 12 years old and since then I’ve been suicidal on more than one occasion. I’ve experienced the sheer terror of contemplating a life filled with unrelenting anguish, and I’ve been consumed by the terrifying thought of having but a single means of escape from a bleak, unbearable future.”

Shaheen is now open about her opinions and feelings, often expressing herself freely. She also owns a luxurious apartment in Juhu.