Ira Khan, Aamir Khan’s Daughter Talks About Depression, Sexual Abuse And More. We Tend To Invalidate Star Kids’ Struggles

Ira Khan, Aamir Khan’s Daughter Talks About Depression, Sexual Abuse And More. We Tend To Invalidate Star Kids’ Struggles

‘The grass is always greener on the other side’, a proverb we have all grown up believing to be true and often using to throw pity party for ourselves, every time we thought the other person had it much easier than we do in life. A sentiment that is often used in the context of celebrities and their star kids, who we believe are always living their best lives. Except, it is when you closely examine them that you realise, their life isn’t much different from our own. It is also full of ups and downs, sometimes much harder because of the very things we envy them for. As has been shared with us by Ira Khan, daughter of actor Aamir Khan.

Sharing a 10 minute long video on her Instagram handle, Ira Khan went on to touch base on a few sensitive topics that needed to be talked about. From disclosing the details of how she’s been battling with depression to sharing how she had been sexually abused when she was merely 14 years old, Ira Khan’s video was a reminder to everyone out there who has always equated star kids to their privilege that it’s perhaps not as rosy as it looks. Failing to look at them as normal people who could too have a troubled life like most of us.

She starts her video, candidly talking about her privileges and then moves on to talk about how she would yet find it extremely hard to get out of bed on some days because she had gone deep into depression, for reasons that she didn’t know. Scaling back to share all the possible events in her life that could’ve been making her feel the way she was feeling, she talks about her parents’ divorce but quickly mentions how because it was amicable, it was never a traumatic experience for her.

Also Read : Alia Bhatt Cried Because She Didn’t Understand Her Sister Shaheen Bhatt’s Depression. Mental Health Issues Aren’t Always Obvious.

 

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HINDI VERSION – LINK IN BIO. I never spoke to anyone about anything because I assumed that my privilege meant I should handle my stuff on my own, or if there was something bigger, it would make people need a better answer than “I don’t know.” It made me feel like I needed a better answer and until I had that answer, my feelings weren’t something I should bother anyone else with. No problem was big enough to ponder too long about. What would anyone do? I had everything. What would anyone say? I had said it all. I still think there’s a small part of me that thinks I’m making all this up, that I have nothing to feel bad about, that I’m not trying hard enough, that maybe I’m over reacting. Old habits die hard. It takes me feeling my worst to make myself believe that it’s bad enough to take seriously. And no matter how many things I have, how nice to me people are because of my dad, how nice to me people are because they love and care about me… if I feel a certain way, a certain not nice way, then how much can rationally trying to explain these things to myself do? Shouldn’t I instead get up and try and fix things? And if I can’t do that for myself? Shouldn’t I ask for help? . . . #mentalhealth #privilege #depression #repression #divorce #sexualabuse #letstalk #betterlatethannever #letitout #depressionhelp #askforhelp

A post shared by Ira Khan (@khan.ira) on

 

She then talks about having TB at the age of 6, and how she got lucky to have it treated within 4 days. Then, she jumps on to talk about how at the young age of 14, she was sexually abused and while it took her a while to be sure of what the person was doing and that he wasn’t supposed to be doing that to a 14 year old girl, she mentions how instantly she wrote to her parents and got out of the situation.

She says, “I was sexually abused when I was 14. At that time I couldn’t understand whether the person realised what he was doing and I didn’t know how to confide in. It took me a year to be sure that the person was aware of his actions. I immediately wrote my parents an email and got myself out of that situation. Once I was out it didn’t feel so bad. I was not scared anymore. It’s not something that has scarred me for life”.

Owing to all the points in her life that could’ve let her down this road to depression, she shared that none of what had happened had scarred her or made her feel that she was broken. Yet, as she found herself in the tight grip of depression, she resisted to talk about it with friends or family, because she felt her privilege didn’t allow her to crib about feeling bad, without knowing or having a valid reason for it.

You see, we have so mindlessly dissed people for having more or having it all, that we don’t realise how we have intimidated those who are privileged to the point where we invalidate their experiences. Be it in case of Sushant Singh Rajput, where it got hard for people to understand that even a man like him who was popular, famous and rich could have a reason to take his own life, or here with Ira, where we feel they would have no reason to feel bad, we need to stop believing that those who seem better off than us, actually are. There is a whole different world beyond those Instagram images that we may have no inkling of!

We all have struggles going on in our lives, and no matter how financially sound, we may or may not be, or who are our parents, the struggle is real. We are glad that Ira stepped up and chose to speak about her condition, because privilege shouldn’t mean you don’t get to ask for help. Depression is real and last we checked, it came knocking without caring for one’s privilege or status.

Also Read : Twitter Trolls Deepika Padukone For Her Mental Health Posts, Says Dealing With Depression Doesn’t Make Her An Expert On The Issue

Sadhika Sehgal

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