The year is 2017, we’ve survived the battlefield that was 2016, and it still takes a viral news story for us to have an open conversation about depression. Last week, 24-year-old engineering student Arjun Bhardwaj took his own life by jumping off Taj Land’s End Hotel in Mumbai, sparking the conversation again.
Help poured in from all corners, but comedic outfit All India Bakchod (AIB) added to the conversation in their own unique way: by making a video highlighting how ludicrous it would be to treat all illnesses the way we treat depression? What if we were ashamed to admit that we have typhoid for fear of being judged in public? What if going to the doctor to treat a common cold came with a stigma attached?
Since its release last night, the video has since charted over a quarter of a million views. In a final strike against the insidious disease, the makers have waived their copyright policy in the hopes that in downloading and re-sharing the video, the message will reach a wider audience.
Watch AIB’s mental health awareness video here:
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In the meantime, what can you do to help? Read up and educate yourself so that you can be there for someone who may need help. Remind them that depression isn’t permanent; love and support is. If you think you need to talk to someone, remember that you are not alone. (The makers have compiled a list of platforms where you can find a listening ear in the description box below the video.)
In the words of AIB co-founder, Rohan Joshi: “One day someone is going to ask you how much you got in Physics and you’re actually going to take a full ten minutes to even remember.”
