Time and again we come across celebrities from different worlds opening up about depression and having suicidal thoughts. Likewise, Indian cricketer Robin Uthappa has now revealed battling with clinical depression. During his recent session of ‘Mind, Body and Soul’, a platform brought forward by The Royal Rajasthan Foundation, Indian batsman opened up about having suicidal thoughts on a daily basis between 2009 and 2011. Robin revealed he wasn’t overtly aware of himself. However, he’s extremely now clearly about his thought.
He said, “When I made my debut in 2006, I wasn’t overtly aware of myself. A lot of learning and development has happened since then. Right now, I am extremely aware of myself and really clear on my thoughts and myself. It’s easier for me to catch myself now if I’m slipping somewhere in someplace. I feel I ‘ve reached this place because I’ve gone through those tough phases wherein, I was clinically depressed and had suicidal thoughts. I remember around 2009 to 2011, it was constant and I would deal with that on a daily basis.”
He further added, “There were times where I wasn’t even thinking about cricket, it was probably the farthest thing in my mind. I was thinking about how I would survive this day and move on to the next, what’s happening to my life and in which direction am I heading. Cricket kept my mind off of these thoughts but it became really difficult on non-match days and during the offseason. On days I would just be sitting there and would think to myself on the count of three, I’m going to run and jump off of the balcony but something kind of just held me back.”
The right-handed batsman further stated that he then started noting things down about himself in a diary and started the process of just understanding himself as a person. “I then started to seek outside help to make those changes I wanted to make in my life. I feel sometimes being negative is necessary. I’m someone who believes in the balance of life and I believe one cannot at all times be positive in life. Being negative or having negative experiences, going through trials and tribulations is sometimes necessary for one’s own growth.” (ALSO READ: Hardik Pandya On Koffee With Karan Outing, ‘Coffee Proved To Be Too Expensive For Me, Drink Green Tea Instead')
He concluded, “For me, all my experiences have moulded me into the person I am today and I have no regrets on my negative experience as they’ve helped me develop positively. You need to go through the lulls to make you feel ecstatic about the positives. I feel life is about balance and we can’t have it one way, a lopsided life is not going to be great, both negative and positive experiences are essential.”
Images Source: instagram/robinaiyudauthappa