World Mental Health day: Here’s what keeps our celebs’ mental health going

Hectic schedules, erratic work timings, and then the stress of a project’s result- all of this is enough for people in showbiz, be it any department, to experience insane amounts of stress. What is that one thing which helps their mental health then? Here’s what they tell us:

ANEES BAZMEE– I try to keep myself calm by doing breathing exercises. There are 200 people involved when you’re the captain of the ship, and there are a lot of things happening throughout the making of a film. It’s very easy for your mental health to go for a toss if you don’t find those moments of solitude. If you think your work will get done by screaming and raising your blood pressure, then go ahead. But it doesn’t work. Those 200 people are all different, with different mindsets, their own set of tensions. Some come to work passionately, whereas some just come so that their attendance is marked. You should be intelligent enough to know that you’re punishing yourself when you scream at the mistakes of someone else.

SANJAY KAPOOR– Dividing your personal and professional life is very important, and my mantra to keep myself mentally fit is to take an off once in a while. When I had started off here would be two-three shifts, so discipline is required. You get overworked, so you need to space out your work also. It’s tough. Today, atleast in movies and OTT, you get enough time to take rest. Every fortnight, you get a day or two. It didn’t happen earlier. You need time for yourself. We were shooting in Sikkim for a show, and even now when I am shooting for the film Merry Christmas, every week there’s an off for the unit. We actors get enough time, but they don’t. Things have changed for better.

RAVI DUBEY– Spending time with my family is one of those things which keeps my mental health okay. You have to ground yourself, and they do that. Showbiz is a tough place to be in. What also helps is not dwelling on the past, and become focused through any spiritual practice or endeavour you want to undertake. That gives you hope for the future and you suddenly become optimistic.

SHANKAR MAHADEVAN– Music! I am a musician, and music helps people in so many ways, it is known to calm them down. I am blessed that my field of work itself does that, so yes that has kept me mentally fit. I make music, listen to so much of it, and it indeed heals you. I don’t need anything else to be at peace.

AISHWARYA SAKHUJA– When you are working as an actor, especially on TV, you are physically exhausted and do get tired. But the difficult part of being an actor is the time between your current and next project. A friend once told me that actors are paid the kind of money they are, so that they can show patience for when the next project will happen. I resort to 15 minutes of just sitting down quietly, and meditating, when my life gets hectic. When your head is working right, you won’t make the lives of the people around you difficult.