While I was unaware that Shaheen Bhatt was suffering from depression, I had started to sense something was not right. I had asked her if there was something that she wanted to speak to me about. Shaheen took a year before telling me that she needed help. She said, “I’m not as happy as I would like to be. I can be in a better phase, and I think I need help to get there.” It was not just sadness or a feeling of listlessness or being lazy or unmotivated – it was much more serious than that. She couldn’t stop crying; she didn’t want to come out of her room. Such things are very scary for a parent. But I kept reassuring her that we will seek help and we consulted an expert.

The treatment for mental health issues is not ‘one size fits all’. There are trials and errors in the process, and myriad coping mechanisms involved. In that process you consult different experts who offer different perspectives, advice, and help. Recognising that you are suffering from an illness and seeking help is just the beginning of the journey of mental well-being.

Shaheen has had to go through her own struggle to find the right treatment. I was just being a proactive parent and giving her the support she needed.

My advice to parents is that if your child says that they are not feeling alright, take your child to a doctor. It might be nothing, but chances are that it could be something that they are dealing with emotionally. We, as parents, have to create an environment where our kids feel comfortable opening up to us since a young age. Mental illness is not a taboo and there should be no shame in talking about it, or seeking help.