Deepika Padukone posts a message on depression in the wake of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain's suicide

One of the first few celebrities in India to have openly talked about mental health, Deepika Padukone has always tried to spread awareness about depression. The actress, who had admitted to have suffered from depression a few years back, even started a foundation The Live Love Laugh Foundation to spread more awareness about mental health.

Following the death of designer Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain, Deepika has shared a note of her organisation on Instagram reiterating the importance of reach out.

Both Spade and Bourdain committed suicide and reportedly were suffering from depression.

“Every 40 seconds a person dies by suicide,” the note begins, quoting WHO statistics. “Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain were pioneers in their fields... and to the outside world they ‘had it all’ and were seemingly ‘happy’”.

But despite 'having it all', the did suffer from depression, Deepika pointed out. " The element of depression that is grossly misunderstood is that you have control over your illness,” the post continues. “Asking someone to ‘snap out of it’ is like telling a person with a broken foot to continue walking.”

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The organisation also aims at sensitising people about mental health and removing the stigma around the disease.

Noted for her designer bags and jewellery, Kate Spade was found dead in her Manhattan apartment on June 5. Her death was ruled a suicide by hanging. She was 55. Her husband later revealed that she had battled depression for years. The US suicide hotline saw a 25% increase in phone calls following Spade’s death.

Just a few days after Spade's suicide, on June 8, celebrated chef and TV presenter Anthony Bourdain hanged himself in his hotel room in France. He was reportedly suffering from depression as well.

Deepika has on multiple occassions spoken about depression and her personal battle with the disease. “There’s absolutely no shame if you suffer from depression,” Deepika wrote in an article in 2017 for a daily.