Fame, family, fortune — actor Imran Khan had everything going for him until one day, when he started experiencing anxiety. It began with things like waking up in the middle of the night for no apparent reason. “I didn’t consider seeking help then,” he confesses. But around 2016, it developed into a pattern, and he decided to seek professional advice.

“It’s been eight years since I started going for analysis sessions,” says the 41-year-old, as we speak on World Mental Health Day today.

The actor, who was last seen in Katti Batti (2015) before he took a sabbatical and battled depression, recalls that conversations about mental health were a taboo a decade ago.

“People, in general, didn’t have an attitude of acceptance. Today’s generation has embraced the idea of mental health care. Their sympathy is mind-blowing. If someone says, ‘I was not feeling great, I went through analysis’, others will encourage them to talk more about it, rather than being judgemental,” he says.

Khan, however, considers himself lucky that the people around him never attached any stigma to the issue. “My mother is a practising psychoanalyst, so I had a very clear perspective about mental health. More than being diagnosed with depression, I voluntarily sought analysis,” he shares.

So, does he feel happier now? “Happiness is a strange word, because you cannot always be happy. Rather, the question is. Do you feel like getting out of the bed in the morning and doing stuff? If not, you are in a state of actual collapse. In that way, I am in a place that is healthier. Since my early 20s, I had not been in a healthy space, emotionally or psychologically,” the actor ends.