Ileana D’Cruz reveals her lowest point and being suicidal

Bollywood actress Ileana D’Cruz recently opened about her personal fears and fighting her demons, especially her battle with depression and Body Dysmorphic Disorder.

The ‘Barfi’ actress was attending the ‘21st World Congress of Mental Health’ when she revealed how she had fought the hard battle with depression and how at one point she wanted to commit suicide. Ileana gave an empowering speech as she received the award of ‘the Woman of Substance Award’ for her efforts towards raising awareness about mental health.

The actress said, “I was always a very self-conscious person and was picked on for my body type. I used to feel low and sad all the time but didn't know I was suffering from depression and Body Dysmorphic Disorder till I got help. All I wanted to do was to be accepted by everyone,” Pink Villa reported.

"At one point, I even had suicidal thoughts and wanted to end things. However, all of it changed when I accepted myself and what I was going through. I think that is the first step towards fighting depression."

Ileana insisted that depression is a real disease and a one that needs lot assistance, “It is a chemical imbalance in your brain, and needs to be treated. Don't sit back and think it will get okay but go get help. Like you have a sprain and go get yourself checked, if you have depression, seek help," she said, urging people to be like Winnie the Pooh. "He wore a crop top, ate his favorite food all day and loved himself, you can too."

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The ‘Rustom’ actress also said that her mother was her strength pillar and her healing was not a one day process but she took her time to accept herself as she was, “You are a human being and are allowed to be imperfect, and you are allowed to be flawed. There is a lot of beauty in your imperfections, in your uniqueness.”

She said she decided to open up about her struggle because "as someone people look up to, even if I can help a handful of people cope, it is worth talking about it".

The World Congress was organized by the ‘World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH)’, a global alliance of mental health professionals, national health associations, NGOs, policy experts and other institutions.