Deepika feted with global honour for mental health awareness drive
January 21,2020Bollywood star Deepika Padukone was felicitated with the Crystal Award
at the World Economic Forum for her contribution to mental health
awareness.
While accepting the award, Deepika opened up about her
own experience with mental illness and how it drove her to start The
Live Love Laugh Foundation.
The actress shared: "Through my
journey to recovery from depression, I began to understand the stigma
and lack of awareness associated with mental illness, I felt a deep need
to save at least one life."
"And it is this very need that motivated me to go public with my illness and set up the Live Love Laugh foundation," she added.
Deepika
has been running the foundation since June 2015. The foundation's
programmes and initiatives include nationwide public awareness and
destigmatisation campaigns, adolescent mental health programmes, funding
support for treatment in rural communities and more.
Deepika represented India at the forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Meanwhile, this year she made her debut as a producer with "Chhapaak".