Pakistani Actress Mahira Khan Talks About Her Bipolar Disorder Diagnosis in A Podcast Interview

Pakistani actress, Mahira Khan, of ‘Humsafar' fame, has revealed in the FWhy podcast that she was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder. 

She is currently on medication. She brought to light that her condition became worse when she stopped taking her medications briefly. 

It all began around the period when Pakistani artists were banned from working in India post the 2016 Uri attack. 

The  backlash that she received after ‘Raees’ was the biggest trigger. It all began slowly. First with daily stressors, anxiety and finally a full blown panic attack. This is when she decided to visit the psychiatrist. 

“We’ll talk about everything later, but I need you to know that you have manic depression”, the psychiatrist told Mahira. 

“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”, the actress elaborated further during the podcast interview. 

She was in and out of hospitals but things became very serious last year. 

“Yes, everyone has sad times and happy times and success and failure, but clinical depression is real.”

She added, “Even in my darkest, worst moments, I never project it. It’s all inside me, mere andar tabahi mach rahi hai, but… It’s been a journey with my depression. I’ve had to work through it, I’ve had to dance through it…” 

Mahira explained that Clinical Depression is real and genetic factors also play a crucial role besides triggers. It has now been around six to seven years since her diagnosis. 

She thanked her friends, family and the special person with whom she is right now for supporting her, having patience and understanding her situation even though he hadn’t been through a similar experience. 

Kudos to Mahira for sharing her story and enlightening others about her personal experience with Bipolar Disorder. We cannot deny that mental health illness is an ever concerning subject in these times. The illness can strike anyone at any moment. As mentioned in the podcast, we need to talk a lot more about mental health issues especially if one is dealing with it. She tells her audience not to hesitate to get help.

Bipolar Disorder is a mental health condition that causes extreme mood swings which consists of emotional highs (mania or hypomania) and lows (depression). It affects millions of people every year. It is not very clear what causes it but genetics, environment and brain structure are contributing factors. Right treatment which consists of medications is a crucial factor in bringing symptoms under control. The good news is that it is a treatable condition.