Sandra Bullock battled serious bouts of depression while filming Gravity

While shooting for space drama Gravity, actress Sandra Bullock suffered serious bouts of depression as she was locked in an isolation tank for 10 hours at a time.

By: Agencies | | Published: October 14, 2013 11:09 am

While shooting for space drama Gravity, actress Sandra Bullock suffered serious bouts of depression as she was locked in an isolation tank for 10 hours at a time. Also Read - Ganesh Chaturthi 2020: 4 reasons an eco-friendly Ganesha is good for you

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The 49-year-old admits the lonely sessions took a serious toll on her mental health, reports femalefirst.co.uk. Also Read - Weight loss diet: How to eat healthy in a restaurant when you want to lose weight

Director Alfonso Cuaron had to keep a close eye on her to ensure she didn’t lose her cool and he used her son, Louis, to cheer her up whenever he felt she needed a boost.

‘I was depressed, I was angry, I would get so sad because it was a black room, no human contact, they took away sound… ‘What they did was, Alfonso could see, because he had cameras always on my face, he would be like, ‘She’s cracking, she’s cracking, go get the kid’,’ Bullock said on a talk show.

‘They’d created this whole wonderland just outside for Louis (to keep him occupied during filming), so they brought him in,’ she added. (Read: ‘Depression is as common as the common cold nowadays’)

How is depression different from sadness?

Sadness is part of the life without which happiness would have no meaning. To feel sad during major life crises like the death of a loved one, losing a job or the ending of a relationship is normal. Depression on the other hand is a condition where there is prolonged sadness and an individual’s mood isn’t tied to life events. While healthy individuals have moods related to life events, people suffering from depression suffer from disproportionate amount of sadness and guilt. It is a serious medical condition in which the symptoms make it difficult for the person to function in society, often leads to poor physical health and severe emotional pain.

A cure is not hard to find

Mental illness is a big problem in our culture, in fact any culture. People don’t like to acknowledge that they aren’t a fully functioning member of society (whatever that means) and there’s a tendency to hush up mental illnesses. It’s almost considered taboo to visit a counsellor or psychiatrist to seek help. Perhaps it has something to do with the way mental illnesses show distinct changes in our personality, cognition and behaviour the very things that define our being; unlike a physical illness where a certain organ or part of the body is affected. First and foremost, it’s very important to seek professional help

Seek professional help: You wouldn’t try to self-medicate or refuse to believe you have a problem if you suffered from a heart disease would you? The same goes for the mind. Denial self or otherwise simply compounds the problem. The fact is that unlike other diseases which are either untreatable or whose treatment costs are expensive depression has an economic and cost-effective solution. It’s imperative to get professional help and there’s absolutely nothing to be ashamed of in visiting a therapist or counsellor.
Physical exercise : There has been ample research to prove that physical exercise of all form helps keep the blues away. One of the reasons for this is the feel-good hormones like endorphins and testosterone are released during exercise which makes us feel good. Even walking for 15-30 minutes can make a difference.
Healthy balanced diet: A health, all around balanced diet is another way to keep depression at bay. For example, omega 3 fatty acids found in fish and vegetable oils play helps keep a part by helping regulate neurotransmitters like serotonin which is used in anti-depressants. Foods high on antioxidants (green tea, broccoli, oranges, spinach, pumpkin, papaya) are also a must. (Read: Depression understanding it is half the battle won)

With inputs from IANS

Published : October 14, 2013 11:09 am

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