Actress Shruti Haasan has discussed pursuing therapy and discovering she had an anxiety disorder while speaking in a candid interview on March 9.
Talking to entertainment news portal Pinkvilla in a video interview posted after International Women’s Day, the daughter of actors Kamaal Hasaan and Sarika Thakur also opened up about the beginnings of her mental health issues.
“Getting on stage was a phobia for the longest time. When I started singing and performing on stage, since I was 19 I was in music school, I would get these symptoms of really bad anxiety,” the actress said. “But I just thought I was not steely, courageous or strong enough for this big bad world. It took me many years, I think actually into my 30s to realise that I had an anxiety disorder.”
Shruti was a child star before making her acting debut as an adult in the 2009 Bollywood film ‘Luck’. She has also starred in acclaimed South Indian movies such as ‘Anaganaga O Dheerudu’, ‘Gabbar Singh’ and ‘Vedalam’.
“It took me a long time to come to terms with it. I have had anxiety for many years, and I think it was triggered by certain traumas which is the case with most people. Trauma feels like a very heavy word, but anything can trigger it,” she added.
In the past, the actress faced criticism after revealing she had gotten plastic surgery early on in her career. Commenting on the reactions, 35-year-old Shruti said she wanted to be honest about her procedures.
“I decided to be honest about [the plastic surgery]. There’s tons of actors doing fillers, doing rhinoplasty several times over. If they don’t want to talk about it that’s also fine,” she said.
“I just felt that I would like to be honest about it. And I would also like to be honest about the fact that there was a time that I chose to do it extra. [But] now I’m more comfortable [with myself],” Shruti said.
