National, October 10, 2022: A silent health condition, Depression, affects millions across the world. While mental health notions are changing globally, In India, the topic is still deeply stigmatised. Depression affects approximately 5% of adults globally, and every 1 out of 3 Indians, as per the World Health Organisation. But despite these staggering numbers, rarely do we see people coming out and talking about it. This is because even talking about mental health issues is considered a taboo which forces people to hide their problems and ‘act’ as if they are okay.
In an effort to start conversations and marking the occasion of World Mental Health Day, Josh, India’s fastest-growing and most engaged short-video app, released a series of 3 films aimed at raising awareness around the issues of one’s mental health with a specific focus on depression. Through a series of three thought-provoking films, Josh attempts to question our current behaviour and actions towards mental health in India by giving viewers an understanding of depression from the perspective of those battling it.
The campaign has released a series of films portraying three individuals suffering from depression as professional actors. The films were made to look like an acting masterclass wherein these veteran ‘actors’ give the audience tips and tricks that they used to get better at playing their characters. The reveal of course was that they weren’t professional actors but were forced to act so they could hide their depression. The campaign was conceptualised and executed by What’s Your Problem – A Wondrlab company,
Samir Vora, CMO of VerSe Innovation said “In India, conversations around mental health are still taboo and are often riddled with embarrassment, which makes it harder to address those issues. People shouldn’t have to ‘act’ to hide their depression. We, as a society, need to start conversations around mental health issues so people suffering from them can be comfortable talking about it. Because acting should only be done on camera, not in real life”
Amit Akali, Co-Founder and CCO, Wondrlab said, “As an individual, and a team, breaking the taboo around mental health is something we all believe in. In the past few years, we’ve seen the most unexpected people take drastic measures, which means they were forced to hide their issues. Thus came the idea of packaging the experiences of people fighting depression as an ‘Acting Masterclass’. It’s been one of the most difficult projects of our life. Palash Shrotriya & Prakhar Deogrikar – the creative team, Baudhayan Mukherji – the director, and some of us, spent hours with psychiatrists understanding what people going through depression, experience, listening to patients and what they went through. It was an overwhelming experience. Then, actually working with real patients to conduct an ‘Acting Master Classes’! Hats off to the brave patients who shared their experiences, only so others have #NoNeedToAct”
For this campaign, Josh has partnered with Vandrevala Foundation and encourages all to seek help while destigmatizing the topic by having open conversations.
