Karan Johar Opens Up About His Battle With The Clinical Depression

Karan Johar is gearing up for his biggest release ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ this festive season on Diwali 2016.The much anticipated movie has a stronger ensemble cast of Ranbir Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Anushka Sharma and Fawad Khan. But ahead of the release of the movie, his latest interview will show you the other side of Karan Johar’s story.

After Deepika Padukone spoke about her depression on national media, KJo in his recent interview with NDTV shares the “darkest phase” of his life. In an interview with Barkha Dutt, Karan Johar opened up about fighting with clinical depression. While speaking about how he got to know about clinical depression Karan said, “I have read people speaking openly about their depression. There was a phase in my life, when I was really depressed. When I went through that phase, I thought I am getting a cardiac arrest. I felt it in middle of a meeting two and half years ago, after which I left the meeting in between saying I have something urgent to do and rushed to the doctor. He then said I am having an anxiety attack. I went to a psychologist post that. Then I realized that I had some internal issues to deal with, which got built up to such point that it resulted into anxiety.

He further spoke about the time where he felt lonely and depressed. He didn’t want to meet people and found excuses to leave Mumbai City. Talking about the same he said, “It was dark, deep and helpless time. There was nothing I could do about it. I stopped feeling excitement and happiness. There was lack of sleep and I was always on the edge. I think I hadn’t dealt entirely with the loss of my father. There was also the fear that I was not able to find my life partner. There is so much love I get from my friends but where do I take it all? I used to feel very lonely.”

When asked if loneliness was a side effect of the film industry, Karan said he never wants to blame the film industry for the cause of his depression. Further he added, “I think the industry per se should not be generalised for the reason of your loneliness but you really wonder how many of your relationships matter. We live in this bubble all the time. We don’t know if the emotions we have are just for the film or do I take it further. And at 44, when you don’t have a life partner or kids, it is difficult to deal with.”

Karan also admitted that he had to undergo anti-anxiety medication for a year and a half. “I went through a series of anti-anxiety medication for it. A year and a half post that, when I stopped it, I realized that I am in a much better place. Today I actually feel the emotion of excitement and happiness. When you go through it, you stop feeling that zing of emotion. Today I am getting all of them back,” he said.

Also Watch Video:

About Author

BusinessofCinema News Network

Learn More →