Alia Bhatt's sister Shaheen Bhatt opens up about her battle with depression

New Delhi: In the wake of three high profile suicide cases of Kate Spade, Anthony Bourdain and Bhaiyyuji Maharaj, Bollywood actress Alia Bhatt's sister Shaheen Bhatt who has always addressed mental illness, has yet again penned her thoughts about her battle with depression for Vogue magazine and has urged people to talk about mental illness.

Talking about her battle with depression and how she was suicidal since the age of 12, Shaheen wrote, " I’ve lived with depression since I was 12 years old and since then I’ve been suicidal on more than one occasion. I’ve experienced the sheer terror of contemplating a life filled with unrelenting anguish, and I’ve been consumed by the terrifying thought of having but a single means of escape from a bleak, unbearable future".

Addressing the recent suicide cases of fashion designer Kate Spade and celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain, she wrote, "On a snoozy, muggy, pre-monsoon afternoon I woke from a peaceful mid-day slumber to find my phone flooded with social media notifications and messages. At first glance, I was sure I had misread the headline, so I instinctively pulled my phone up close to my face to reread it. “

"As my mind slowly went from drowsy to wakeful, I struggled to piece together and make sense of the words staring at me from my screen. Unbidden, the first thought that flared from the hazy recesses of my mind was “Oh God, no. Not another one, " her post read.

Alia too shared the write-up on her Twitter handle and wrote, "Shaheen you are brilliant! My sister has battled and lived with depression since she was 12. She speaks her heart out and without any hesitation addresses the giant elephant in the room - Mental health and the LACK of our understanding & acceptance!."

Shaheen you are brilliant! My sister has battled and lived with depression since she was 12. She speaks her heart out and without any hesitation addresses the giant elephant in the room - Mental health and the LACK of our understanding & acceptance! https://t.co/ih0PmzujYl — Alia Bhatt (@aliaa08) June 14, 2018

Shaheen concluded her write-up by urging people to talk about depression, she wrote, "Every day that we shy away from the subject, someone plunges further into their depressive hole, isolating themselves and believing they’re freaks. Every minute that we continue to stay silent we lose one more person to the horrors of depression and suicide. Every second that we choose comfort over reality we fail another Anthony and another Kate. Talking about depression is no longer an option, it’s a matter of life and death."