Gul Panag Shares How She Deals With Bad Days When She Feels Like Crying. Glad Celebrities Are Getting Real About Mental Health
As I write this, I’m having a blah day myself. Not that something terrible has happened. But you know how everyone has days when all we want to do is just curl up under our blankets with some dessert and a season of The Vampire Diaries to keep us company? Yeah, one of THOSE days. And since it has now been a year and a half of such days that can go from blah to bad in a jiffy, we’ve had to come up with some creative ways to deal with them. Some exercise to release the endorphins; some shop online; and some bake. And some, like Gul Panag, have developed an arsenal of coping mechanisms that she can employ when she’s having a terrible day.
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The actor has been getting a lot of love on her recent posts where she shared things like getting her private pilot’s licence a few years ago or going big on health and wellness to get through the pandemic. And so she decided to pen another post, this time talking about how there are days when her mental health is in shambles, which is something all of us have been going through this past year.
The picture Gul Panag put up is a no-filter selfie, where she looks exhausted and uninterested. In her caption, the 44-year-old actor provided some context: “This picture is taken on a bad day. I also get overwhelmed. I also feel helpless and hopeless at times. I also go into a room and have a cry. Every achievement, big or small, is punctuated by days when you feel you are worthless, that you are going to fail. Or that you can’t go on.”
Also Read: Gul Panag Wearing A Dress From 18 Years Ago Is Giving Us Major Fitness Goals
Writing further about how she copes with such days, Gul said, “I have some tools that I’ve acquired over the years that help me cope on bad days. One is to go for a run (not a workout, because that takes greater will). The second is to hit pause, and quickly list out five things I’m grateful for in that moment.”
This tactic, of taking a breath and listing down things, is something that helps even people with anxiety to calm themselves down during a particularly triggering episode. And we’re glad that a celebrity has decided to speak up about it in such detail, considering there are many people who right now need reassurance that they’re not alone in feeling down.
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However, it should be noted that while celebrities, influencers and online accounts that share content about mental health are good for basic motivation, they can never replace professional help and therapy. And Gul pointed out that seeking help should always be an option when things don’t seem to feel better with your coping mechanisms.
“Having said that, sometimes one isn’t able to surface, no matter what . That’s the time to seek help. From friends and family. And if the need arises, from a trained professional.”
Gul Panag concluded her post by saying that she wanted to share her own struggles and coping strategies because she had been receiving lot of love on her previous posts that talked about her achievements and good days. And she wanted her followers to know that it’s not always rainbows and unicorns; there are bad days amongst those good days too, for everyone. And that’s okay to admit out loud.
“Why am I sharing this? Because I want you all to know that I’m humbled when so many of you say kind things to me. That I inspire you. (That is a huge responsibility). I want you all to know that it’s not all dream chasing and goal setting and achieving. It’s not all slaying. I don’t have it all together. No one does.”
Thank you, Gul Panag, for that little dose of hope that is sure likely to have helped someone out there.
