Actress Nausheen Shah made a candid appearance on Tabish Hashmi’s popular talk show Hasna Mana Hai, where she opened up about her time away from the screen and her struggle with severe depression.

Hashmi jokingly suggested she had “gone underground in hiding”, asking about her noticeable absence from showbiz over the past year or two. Shah responded with honesty and grace, “I had been going through some things and hadn't been feeling well for some time,” she shared, adding that she had used the time to recover.

In a powerful and moving conversation, Shah spoke about how her depression had begun to impact her daily life and basic functioning. “I could not eat, sleep or process things around me. I felt a strange fear, it was very dark. It is a miracle I got out of it.”

She went on to explain how the illness left her numb to her surroundings and unable to experience or process emotions as she normally would. But more than just sharing her own experience, Shah encouraged those watching to be alert to significant changes. “If you are struggling to function on a daily basis and know you are experiencing inexplicable emotions out of the ordinary, that is when you must seek help from a doctor.”