Following the sudden demise of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput, clinical depression has been talked about widely. Along with members of the film fraternity, sportstars also reacted to the development and stressed on the importance of talking about mental stress.
Sushant was popular in the sports circles following his portrayal of MS Dhoni in his biopic ‘MS Dhoni: The untold story.’
India seamer S Sreesanth, who was a part of the 2011 World Cup-winning squad, also reacted to Sushant’s death and said that he was quite adversely affected by the actor’s passing away.
The Kerala speedster opened up on how he dealt with his own phase of depression and suicidal thoughts after the 2013 alleged IPL spot-fixing scandal tarnished his image.
“You know I was scared of the dark at one point. I couldn’t step out of the house and I didn’t let anyone step out of the house because I feared that I/ they would get kidnapped. I was in a deep depression at the time,” Sreesanth told the Deccan Chronicle.
“I had all these thoughts in my room but I couldn’t leave my room without a smile on my face because my parents would not have been able to handle it. I didn’t want to show my weakness to them.”
Sreesanth, who is reportedly writing a book on his struggles, also said, “I was completely on my own in these moments, I was crying all the time trying to figure out where I went wrong and what happened to me. I was living this dual life and it was too much to handle,” stated the pacer.
“I was Sreesanth to the world and Gopu to the family, but in my room, I didn’t know what I was. That’s why I started discovering hobbies and working on them with a lot of seriousness. It is something I battled with incessantly in 2013. It was there everywhere I turned, the easy way out, but my family kept me sane. I had to stick around for my family. I knew they needed me.”
“That’s why the news of Sushant Singh’s (Rajput) death affected me so much, besides the fact that he was a good friend. I was on that edge but I walked back because I knew how much it would hurt those who believe in me and love me.”