Mahira Khan opens up about bipolar disorder for the FIRST TIME; says Raees backlash triggered it

Pakistani actor Mahira Khan has opened up about her diagnosis of bipolar disorder, saying that she has been struggling with the condition for the past six or seven years. In an interview with the FWhy podcast, Mahira said that she was first diagnosed after experiencing a severe depressive episode following the backlash she received after the release of her film Raees in 2017.

The film became controversial back then following the Uri attacks, and Mahira was criticised by some for her role in the film. Khan said, “I ended up in a psychiatrist’s office, and she said, ‘We’ll talk about everything later, but I need you to know that you have manic depression’. This is the first time I’m saying that, I don’t know if I should. It’s been six-seven years, I’ve been on anti-depressants. I tried leaving them in the middle, and I went into a very, very dark space.”

For the unversed, bipolar disorder is a mental health condition that causes extreme changes in mood, energy, and activity levels. People with bipolar disorder experience episodes of mania, which are periods of abnormally elevated mood, energy, and activity, and episodes of depression, which are periods of sadness, hopelessness, and fatigue.

On a closing note, the actress added that she’s grateful for the ‘glimmer of hope’ that she can still sense, and wants as many people as possible to know that they are not alone if they are experiencing something similar.
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