Anshula Kapoor opens up on mental health, says “I didn’t like who I was because I didn’t know who I was”

One might think that coming from one of the biggest families in Bollywood and having superstars as her sibling and cousins can be a reason to lose yourself in the glitz and glamour. But Anshula Kapoor proves this wrong. Actor Arjun Kapoor’s sister and producer Boney Kapoor’s daughter, Anshula shines in the glory of her own identity and unapologetic, unfiltered views on all that matters in life.

Her posts on Instagram are anything but guarded as she shares with the world her thoughts and feelings. Be it feelings of accepting how she looks and who she is or her struggle with grief, Anshula makes sure to be as honest as she can.

Health Shots got a chance to interact with Anshula around World Mental Health Day earlier this month. She was part of a panel discussion Let’s Be Brave Together, to promote mental health awareness. From being someone who had no idea who she was, to now someone who stands for body positivity and mental health awareness, Anshula shared her inspiring journey of self-discovery with us.

Anshula Kapoor on destigmatizing mental health care

Anshula Kapoor lost her mother to cancer back in 2012. It was an incident that left an indelible impact on her mind. While dealing with loss and coming to terms with it has been hard, Anshula also dealt with PCOS since she was 14 years old. Nevertheless, her  fitness transformation has been one infused with body positivity and self care. She also runs her charity foundation called Fankind, an online celebrity fundraiser platform, and talks about the importance of sound mental health every now and then.

“I feel that we speak so openly about physical health, but no one wants to talk about mental health as there is still that taboo around it. Starting a conversation about mental health is a way of normalising it. If you have a cough or a stomach upset, you have a conversation with your friends about it. Why can’t you do the same if you are having a bad day? Even if you don’t understand why you are having a bad day, why are we so hesitant to talk about it?” she asks.

“People often say, ‘It’s okay to not be okay’. But do we believe that? We don’t!” she says, adding, “The whole point of having a conversation around mental health is that whether you have anxiety, depression, panic attacks or bipolar disorder, why can’t you talk about it just as easily as you would talk about anything else?”

Anshula Kapoor on her struggle with grief

Anshula is no stranger to grief and she explains that feelings of grief and sadness take time to process. After having lost her mother at such a young age, she says that everyone deals with grief differently. “I can write an essay around grief. Grief is a whole different ballgame. Processing grief with every relationship that you lose or every loved one that you lose… or if a phase of life is over and you are grieving that phase…Grief is all-encompassing as an emotion,” emphasised Anshula.

Her brother Arjun Kapoor has been a strong support for her. She has often spoken about how much she has leaned on him and how he has helped guide her through her fears and insecurities.  “What helped me was having a very supportive family. Having siblings, having a brother who I can count on for everything,” she tells us.

Dialogue and conversation, she says, are the pillars of recovery. Five years of therapy has taught Anshula to not internalise all that happens in her life. “Going to therapy, talking about things, processing things was what really helped me,” she says.

Also read: Anshula Kapoor’s post is a lesson in body positivity you must not miss

Anshula Kapoor on self love

While she seems her confident self today as someone who accepts reality with open arms, Anshula says that it was not always this way. Loving herself was a far-fetched dream for Anshula a few years back – so much so that, at times, she wouldn’t even acknowledge how she felt. “I was running away from myself. I was not even wanting to self-acknowledge at that point of time,” she says. So, she embarked on a journey to understand herself better. “I was the kind of person who didn’t like who I was, because I didn’t know who I was. Being a little bit more aware of myself, my feelings and thought and giving myself the same love and respect that I would give a friend or a loved one, changed things around me,” she says.