In a very candid video on her YouTube channel actress Debina Bonnerjee narrates details of her anxiety attacks, depression and stresses that she has been experiencing since the onset of the lockdown.
Debina begins the video acknowledging that she is at a better and more privileged position than most people. “I am quarantined in a nice house with a big balcony, I have earned enough to not stress about work, I am surrounded by the closest people in my life. So, if someone with my kind of comfort and privilege can experience this, I can understand what so many people, who are experiencing the same situation, must be going through.’
Like most of us, when the lockdown was announced, Debina was excited to get work done around the house. She submerged herself in household chores aware that this was temporary and would eventually pass. Yet, the enthusiasm died sooner than expected. “After one-two weeks I started feeling pain in my body. Soon they became a constant and made it impossible for me to do or concentrate on anything, it felt like I had an internal disease. The news of Irfan Khan and Rishi Kapoor’s sudden demise put me further in a hole that I was unable to get out of.”
Debina points at how being an actor she is well versed with hiding her feelings and although she spoke to her friends she hid what she needed to say. For a month she felt strange, unwell, and couldn’t fathom the weird thoughts in her mind. Meditation gave her the courage to speak to her family, who took immediate action and connected her to a medical professional.
‘Debina you are not alone. We have been getting such calls since the day lockdown was announced’ – these words by her doctor not only calmed Debina down but put things in perspective. ‘It’s all in our mind because we are in lockdown and unable to get out of the house, our mind is playing games with us to make us feel uncomfortable,” tells Debina.
She stresses that ‘it’s okay to not accomplish anything major during the lockdown, rather do things that make the mind happy’. Through the video, Debina reaches out to anyone who is experiencing the same and is unable to seek help, saying, “You are not alone, there are so many people like you. Come out and seek help because we all need to stand strong and let this pass us by.”