Shama Sikander is a rather vocal celebrity, always advocating for mental health. Over the years she has detailed her own experiences in an attempt to aid others.
The actress dubs her illness as a “pandemic” which has always perplexed her throughout her life. According to a report by IANS, Shama stated, "That is the darkest time anybody can ever have. That is like waking up with a pandemic almost every moment and minute of your life. You don't know what's going to happen, you are so uncertain. You don't even have desires at that time. The saddest part is that you don't have any hope. A desire is something that keeps a human being alive because if we lose all desires then you don't know the purpose of your life.”
"Depression or bipolar are mental situations where you tend to lose hope and desires and that is the darkest space any human being can ever be in.”
She later went on to say, "I don't think there is anything sadder than that. It's the worse a human being can go through and if you survive that you can survive anything, any pandemic."
"As they say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger... We all have that strength, some of us just give up before that strength or the revelation of that strength within us comes to us.”
Soon after her recovery, Shama dubbed the start of her new life as a “new birth”. For “maybe I was stronger than I felt I was, and that attitude of mine has brought me back to life and has given me a purpose. There is immense light after darkness. This is a new birth for me."
"I died for five years every day thinking that I am going to die and I should die, and there is probably nothing for me to look forward to. So, I want to tell people who might feel vulnerable and helpless that you will find the light. You just have to hang in there.”
Albeit, there are still societal taboos around mental health. "It is our conditioning problems. We have a lot of do's and don'ts and sharing your actual life with another person comes in don'ts most of the time. People are so scared.”