Trigger Warning: This article contains references to mental health issues.
Ananya Panday might have become the sought-after young actress of B-town, but the fame didn’t come to her easily. She was subjected to trolling, hatred, and social media bullying for being born to famous parents. But did you know the actress was also bullied in school and even took therapy in the past?
During an interaction with Barkha Dutt on her channel, We The Women, Ananya Panday went down memory lane and recalled being called names in school. The actress stated that during her earlier years in the educational institute, she had been called everything from ‘hunchback to flat chested to chicken leg and hairy.’
“But we were in a bubble,” she stated, adding that now, because of social media, the smallest of things get amplified, which scares her. In the same chat, she admitted to seeking professional help and taking therapy in the past.
Sharing the reason behind it, the CTRL actress stated, “I could not articulate my emotions. I used to just feel very, very down.” According to her, the thing about mental health and social media is that one may read something at the moment and may not realize that it is affecting them because they think they are fine.
There was a time when she would also read a comment and ignore it. But weeks later, it could still be there in her subconscious somewhere, and that would pile up. While discussing the evil of social media, she also recalled the incident when someone made a fake account on Instagram and started writing that they were in school with her and that she was lying about her education and getting into college.
At first, she was like, ‘No one is going to believe that’. But people did believe it, and it is incidents like these that make her not want to be on social media.
Disclaimer: If you know someone who is having suicidal thoughts, anxiety, going through depression, or suffering from a serious mental illness, reach out to a nearby doctor, mental health expert, or an NGO for immediate help. There are several helplines available for the same.
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