Nimrat Kaur’s mantra for mental well-being: Don’t box up your feelings, talk about it, be your own hero

Actor Nimrat Kaur says one needs to be vigilant about their feelings, share their thoughts with their near and dear ones or if needed, consult a therapist or counsellor.

Our mental health is bearing the brunt of the present worldwide pandemic. And as people from different walks of life, including celebrities, share their tales to urge everyone to open up about their challenges, actor Nimrat Kaur reveals that she, too, feels “worried”.

Actor Nimrat Kaur is known for films such as The Lunchbox (2013) and Airlift (2016).

“We all are, at one point or the other, feeling stressed and anxious. Those who’ve been dealing with a difficult mental state and have been prone to depression are having a hard time. Mental health can never be underestimated. We need to be vigilant about our feelings,” she says.

There are many who often fail to open up, and that, according to Kaur, is what makes the situation worse. She, instead, suggests, “Feel free to talk to your family, friends, partner or whoever you can trust with your feelings. If you don’t have that one person, consult a therapist or a counsellor. Boxing up your feelings isn’t a solution. In such circumstances, our emotions aren’t in check and our brain often doesn’t function properly. It is also just an organ, and we’ve to look after it well. And there’s nothing to hide.”

 

The actor admits that the initial days of the pandemic were difficult for her as she couldn’t gauge what was happening.

“I was slowly slipping towards thoughts like, ‘The economy is collapsing, people are dying’. It took me time to understand the situation and myself, and that’s when I decided to stand up. I made a routine and started following it. It’s difficult, but not impossible. You’ve got to be your own hero. We’ve been just isolated physically, but emotionally we all are together,” says the 38-year-old actor.

Much like the others, Kaur, too, faced work-related dilemma amid the crisis.

But, she says, “I tried not to think about it much. We all are sailing together in this big boat. I’ve stopped asking myself these questions like, ‘How and when do I start working? What’s the way forward?’. I just have faith in God. We’re going through a very big human pause, but slowly we’re trying to get over it... I’ve actually seen terrorism in Kashmir, when I was 11. Those days taught me one thing — life will always throw challenges at you; you’ve to fight it out till you can.”

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Author tweets @Shreya_MJ