Deepika Padukone Expands Her Foundation Live Love Laugh In Honour of World Mental Health Day
The Bollywood actress took to Instagram to share the good news
It’s no secret that Deepika Padukone, one of Bollywood’s most popular stars, has grappled with mental illness. Like any of us, she too has struggled with depression and anxiety, and has never shied away from speaking out about her brush with them. The actress has openly described her deeply personal experiences at length, being one of the first to start such a dialogue in the industry.
To mark World Mental Health Day today, she took to her Instagram page to share the news of growth at her mental health advocacy initiative, The Live Love Laugh Foundation, explaining in the caption that the foundation’s rural outreach program has now expanded to the state of Tamil Nadu in India.
“Since our inception, we have been relentless in our efforts to improve the lives of those experiencing mental illness, as well as the lives of their caregivers,” she wrote in the caption.
Deepika has been actively towards making a change in education quality along with mental health awareness, motivated by her desire to help others plagued by the same problems in a way she found lacking for herself. The 36-year-old established her foundation in 2015 in a bid to fill that gap between the experience and the awareness.
Ever since, the initiative has been engaged in constant efforts to reach parts of India that are still in the dark about the seriousness of mental illness and the importance of a sound, healthy mind for a fulfilling life overall. It works towards normalising mental health issues, erasing the stigma typically found in the greater society and providing those suffering from mental illness with the aid, the tools and the comfort they need to understand that they are after all, not alone.
Lead Image Courtesy/ @deepikapadukone