Vir Das calls out insensitive debate on mental health: ‘You can be depressed and be successful, fit, functional’

Vir Das has called for a more compassionate and sensitive discussion on mental health issues in light of TV news’ coverage on Sushant Singh Rajput’s suicide.

Actor and comedian Vir Das has objected to the insensitive reporting on mental health in television media over the last week. Several news channels have carried reports and interviews on the suicide of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, which has been called out by mental health advocates on social media.

Vir Das says TV channels should not go the insensitivity route for TRPs.

Vir said that the issue must be handled with care considering the large percentage of people who suffer from depression and other mental health problems in the country. “What’s disturbing is to see the clueless and harsh rhetoric around depression on news channels this week. Please be mindful of the fact that a gigantic percentage of our country struggles with it, and watches you. It’s important to communicate that it is nothing to be ashamed of,” he wrote in a tweet.

Sushant died by suicide on June 14. He was reportedly suffering from depression. However, his ex-girlfriend Ankita Lokhande said in a television interview that she found it heartbreaking to hear people saying that he had depression.

“How much ever I know him, he wasn’t a depressed guy. I have not seen a person like Sushant, a guy who used to write his own dreams, he had a diary... He had his 5-year plan — what he wants to do, how he will look, etc. And exactly after 5 years, he had fulfilled them. And when things like ‘depression’ are used after his name... it is heartbreaking. He might be upset, anxious, yes, but depression is a big word. Calling someone ‘bipolar’ is a big thing,” she had said. In another interview, Ankita said she had not been ‘in touch’ with Sushant in four years.

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