Deepika Padukone, who spoke up about her struggle with depression publicly last year, has now launched an awareness campaign taking her fight against the condition a step forward with an awareness drive ‘You Are Not Alone’.

The actress had already pledged to spread awareness about depression through her NGO ‘The Live Love Laugh Foundation’ (TLLLF) in 2015 and this new programme (launched on Wednesday at Sophia High School, Bangalore) focuses on further educating high school students and teachers about how to deal with stress, anxiety and depression. Not just that, the drive aims at reducing the stigma that surrounds issues of mental health. In an official statement Deepika said,

Last year, I spoke about my own fight with depression, as I felt I could not just sit by and watch people going through what I had gone through. So, we decided to launch ‘You Are Not Alone’ with the idea to raise awareness, and to enable students and teachers to identify signs of anxiety and depression. We believe that schools can be the first line of defence for emotional and mental health disorders in our youth. We could also help connect the schools to counselling organisations and independent counsellors, if they need such help. Our aim is to bring the issue of mental health from the shadows and include this discussion in drawing room conversations, from being spoken of only in hushed tones.
Deepika Padukone (Official statement to the media)

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