World Mental Health Day: From Aamir Khan to ‘Shark Tank India’ judge Namita Thapar, 3 public figures share mental well-being hacks

No one is exempt from pangs of self-doubt and struggles with mental health, not even those who shine bright and appear larger than life.

On this World Mental Health Day, three public figures - Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan, and entrepreneurs Namita Thapar and Radhika Gupta, opened up about their battle with dwindling mental health and reinforced the importance of seeking help.

Mr Perfectionist Opens Up About Mental Health Struggles

In a rare moment of candidness, Bollywood’s resident ‘Mr Perfectionist’ opened up about his struggles with mental health.


In a video, also featuring his daughter Ira, the ‘3 Idiots’ star addressed the stigma around mental health in India and talked about normalising visits to psychologists. He also revealed that both he and his daughter have been undergoing therapy for the past few years.

The video was shared on the Instagram pages of Khan and Ira. In the clip, the ‘Taare Zameen Par’ star can be heard saying, “Maths seekhne ke liye hum school ya teacher ke paas jaate hain. Agar baal kataana ho to hum salon ya dukaan jaate hain jaha par wo insaan humaare baal kaatta hai jo us kaam mein trained hai (we go to the mathematician to learn maths, and visit salons to get hair cuts).”

The superstar then goes on to speak about the need for consulting experts who know what they are doing and not to self-rely when it comes to mental well-being. He ended the video with a request to his fans not to be ashamed of consulting a psychologist.

Namita Thapar Advocates Self-Love

The ‘Shark Tank India’ judge took to Instagram and shared a picture of her doing a yoga pose and wrote about how her mentor taught her the power of silence and healing through yoga. “Today is World Mental Health Day. Lucky to have a mentor who taught me the power of 1) silence 2) nature 3) yoga to heal & to build a kinder, more loving core. This is a poem written while trekking during a solo trip to Dehradun, one of my favourite places in the world (it’s called Devbhoomi for a reason:) Goal of today’s post is to emphasize to all of you - You are precious, commit to self-love :),” reads the post.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Namita Thapar (@namitathapar)

Edelweiss CEO Advices Followers Not To Compare Themselves

Comparing ourselves to others is never good as it lowers our self-esteem.

Taking to LinkedIn, Edelweiss AMC MD & CEO Radhika Gupta wrote how each of us adopts a non-nonsense, smooth-talking, and polished persona for the public and save all of our imperfections and chaos ‘backstage’. She also implored followers not to compare our “backstage”, with other’s “frontstage.”

“ Backstage is normal, and never compare your backstage with someone else's front stage. And never be afraid to share your backstage feelings. As a colleague, friend, and person, do remember that other people have a backstage, and you don't know messy it really is. Try to see what is invisible, and listen to what is unspoken,” she wrote.