Ranbir Kapoor shaming Anushka Sharma for anxiety medication puts spotlight on stigma around mental health

An old video of Bollywood stars Ranbir Kapoor and Anushka Sharma is now going viral for all the wrong reasons. In the video, Ranbir calls Anushka the ‘anxiety queen’, outs her medication and pokes fun at the fact that she cannot have a conversation without being on anxiety killers. Right off the back, it seemed that Anushka was not only uncomfortable with the conversation but also caught completely off-guard and didn’t expect that Ranbir would discuss something as personal in front of the cameras.

It is never okay to out someone’s medication

For starters, it is never okay to out someone’s medication and share with the world that they are struggling with mental health, without their consent. Why, you ask? Because everyone’s mental health struggle is deeply personal. Sharing their story with the world when the person who is suffering isn’t ready to open up about it can have serious ramifications and consequences that affect not just their professional but also their personal lives. In many ways, telling someone that you struggle with mental health issues, especially in a third-world country like India, is akin to coming out of the closet and telling the world that you are gay. While it isn’t socially and on some level, even legally acceptable to be gay, it isn’t socially acceptable to struggle with anxiety and depression. The stigma associated with mental health is enough to make a person question over and over again if they want to share their story of struggle with the world. The stigma is magnified and even more hurtful if you are a celebrity - especially someone like Anushka Sharma. To put things in perspective - a director or a producer who is watching the interview and wants to cast Anushka in their next film, will seriously reconsider their decision given that she, in Ranbir’s words, ‘cannot have a conversation without anxiety-killers’. This might damage Anushka’s brand and affect her business and professional life - after all, why would anyone want to work with an actor who needs anxiety pills to have a conversation? The domino effect is dangerous and can severely impact Anushka’s personal life too because many people in the industry might not be willing to associate with her because of this reason.

Let’s see if his pr can remove this like they removed the Reddit post https://t.co/fb7U7VgZjV pic.twitter.com/upcZd7FqdM

— (@PathaanJan25) July 17, 2022

More so, seeing Ranbir, who Anushka trusted and shared her mental health struggle with, mock her publicly makes it okay for others in her life - those who aren’t a part of her inner social circle or even the trolls on the social media to mock her for the same. It normalizes and makes it okay for those watching Ranbir to make fun of people in their lives who ‘cannot have a conversation without anxiety killers’. If you think this is an exaggeration, just seconds after Ranbir outed Anushka’s medication, the reporter interviewing them is seen smiling and joining Ranbir as he continues to target Anushka. ‘Last time, she got very upset with me and said that I’m using her medication against her’, adds the anchor as she continues laughing. For starters, the reporter-cum-interviewer, much like Ranbir, needs to learn the ethics of journalism and not share off-record conversations on the camera. It is imperative for the anchor to also understand that using one’s medication against them is, in fact, very common not just when one is struggling with mental health but even in case of other physical ailments. Pill-shaming and judging those who take medicines to function is commonplace and many times, those who take anxiety pills do it out of desperation because their anxiety is out of control.

Contrary to what Ranbir and the esteemed journalist who interviewed the two might think, taking anxiety pills is not ‘fun’ and having anxiety is not a personality trait like being quirky or eccentric is. No one, literally no one, who is taking anxiety pills to function does it for fun - anxiety can be debilitating, crippling and seriously affect how an individual functions in society. It certainly isn’t something to joke about, much less share someone’s struggle story with the world without their consent.

‘Prozac is a happy pill’

The journalist-cum-anchor continues having one foot-in-the-mouth moment after another. Without any prompting by Ranbir this time, she says ‘Prozac is a happy pill’, that too, with a lot of confidence. To put things in perspective - medically, it isn’t advisable to even pop a Dolo or Paracetamol without a doctor’s prescription and the interviewer claims proudly, on a TV channel, that Prozac is ‘a happy pill’. Is she aware that she could face serious legal consequences if someone watching the interview, who is not feeling good about themselves, takes Prozac without their doctor’s prescription? It is never okay to take the names of medicine one consumes even if it is a physical ailment that they are struggling with. Taking psychiatric medication without prescription, or advising others to do so, can be very, very damaging.

‘Anxiety Queen’

It is never okay to associate one’s mental illness - heck, even physical illness with their identity. If someone who is suffering from cancer is called ‘Cancer King’, wouldn’t it come across as highly tone-deaf and insensitive? Also, if Anushka is struggling to have a conversation without anxiety-killers, she needs help and better friends unlike Ranbir who go and make fun of her illness. That is not all. Ranbir adds, ‘She has a medical problem, a mental problem and a hygiene problem, but we accept her.’ Ranbir - you too have a problem being a bigot and ignorant but we accept you too, don’t we? On a more serious note, those struggling with mental health find it extremely difficult to find acceptance and are often harshly judged because of their condition. Social isolation and loneliness are very common in patients struggling with mental health issues and there are many statistics that substantiate this claim. Also, about the hygiene bit - mental health patients find it hard to maintain personal hygiene because often getting out of bed is a challenge for them. What they need is empathy and support, not judgment and critique.

Needless to say, Ranbir’s (and the esteemed journalist’s) comments on Anushka’s mental health are extremely damaging, concerning, tone-deaf and borderline inappropriate. We just hope that Ranbir learns a thing or two about mental health and Anushka gets better friends.

Deepansh Duggal is an entertainment, pop-culture and trends writer based in New Delhi. He specializes in op-eds based on the socio-political and gender issues in the world of entertainment and showbiz. He also writes explainers and occasionally reviews shows in the OTT space. He tweets at @Deepansh75. 

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