“On 15th February 2014, I vividly remember waking up with a hollow feeling in my stomach. I felt empty and directionless. I had become irritable and would cry endlessly,” writes Deepika Padukone as the founder of LiveLoveLaugh Foundation on its website.
For someone who loves to multitask, making decisions suddenly felt like a burden. Waking up every morning had become a struggle. I was exhausted and often thought of giving up.
She mentions in the founder’s message.
Realising that this was not something that just she was facing, rather what millions of others were going through, she started LiveLoveLaugh (LLL) Foundation in 2015. Rising from her personal journey, the top Bollywood actress has been giving hope to people suffering from depression, anxiety, and stress. She and her team have not just utilised their domain expertise and knowledge to spread awareness about mental health but to also reduce stigma and make credible mental health resources accessible.
There has been a vast change on how the Indian society has been looking at mental health in the last few years and apart from other changemakers Deepika certainly played a role in this. “Mental illness has presented us all with a very tough challenge. Now more than ever before, we need to priortise the needs of every individual,” she says.
LiveLoveLaugh Foundation has taken several initiatives like:
- Counselling Assist – free emotional well-being helpline service to the people of India
- Adolescent mental health programme, ‘You Are Not Alone’ to effectively address mental health challenges
- Doctors programme – Helping the country solve the enormous need gap and creating a pool of trained resources to tackle mental health of the citizens
- Rural Programme – Since 70 percent of the country’s population reside in rural India, the foundation is trying to provide adequate support there
- Research – helping in ongoing efforts towards in-depth research that explore emerging areas in mental health
- LiveLoveLaugh lecture series focuses on the world’s foremost thought leaders and influencers making an impact in the global mental health narrative
Deepika Padukone at a primary health centre on World Mental Health Day in Karnataka
LiveLoveLaugh’s initiatives and outreach programmes are being implemented through partnerships and collaborations. It has educated 2,10,000 students, sensitised 21,000 teachers, trained 2,383 doctors and impacted 9,277 lives through its rural programme.
- You can reach out to LiveLoveLaugh Foundation through its website.