Ananya Panday recalls seeking therapy after being trolled: ‘I wanted to quit acting in the first year of my career…’

Revealing how she came overcame it all, the actress shared, “I have done therapy in the past. I couldn’t articulate my emotions. I used to just feel very low. Sometimes I feel with mental health and social media is that you read something in the moment and you may not realise that it’s affecting you because I am fine right now. I will read a comment and I will ignore it but weeks later it could still be there in your subconscious mind and things like that really pile up so I think with therapy I was able to just consolidate my feelings and articulate my thoughts a little better.”

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Ananya Panday further shared that till date there is a stigma around mental health but she never feared to seek help as it was completely normalised in her family. She said, “There is a stigma definitely but I think it’s gotten a lot better. I feel like a lot of people are talking about it now. Everywhere I go there’s always a question about mental health as an actor. My mom has also done therapy. My grandmother used to do therapy. My younger sister goes to therapy. So in my family it’s been very normalised to seek help. I have not kept it a secret. It has helped me a lot. It’s just about ranting and getting your feelings out.”

In the same conversation, the actress also talked about a time when she compared herself to others and had body image issues. She said, “Instagram does that to you. Nobody posts their failures on Instagram. You are constantly comparing yourself with someone who you think has a better life or is constantly travelling or looking happy. I also obviously had that. Self love doesn’t happen overnight. I have days when I don’t feel confident and beautiful. But, you have to just go through that phase. You need to go with it and not be hard on yourself. As an actor, the most I can do is talk and let people know that I too have such days.”

She added, “I was 18 when I started acting and I didn’t even know the concept of a diet or training or working out. At that time, I went through a lot of body image issues. I first felt it when I saw myself on camera. There was a time when I even compared myself to Tara and felt, ‘Why don’t I have a body like her.'”

Ananya Panday was recently seen in shows and films like CTRL and Call Me Bae. She was praised for her performance in these projects.