Archana Puran Singh cries as son Aaryamann shares he was depressed for ‘15 years of his life’; he says, ‘Felt like there’s no point in living’

Trigger Warning: This article contains discussions about depression, anxiety, mental health struggles, and emotional distress. Reader discretion is advised.

Archana Puran Singh, who is currently winning hearts on The Great Indian Kapil Show, recently shared the experiences that her son Aaryamann had gone through in his life. Aaryamann shared a podcast on his YouTube channel talking about depression, bullying that he faced, and much more. Here’s a look at all you need to know:

While talking about facing bullying since a young age, he shared, “I was always different when it came to sports. I was good at football, so I usually played with older kids. Since I was younger than them, they used to bully me. Sometimes they would say, ‘He’s just a kid, don’t even include him.’ I couldn’t even understand what they were talking about or who they were talking about. They would make fun of me, pull my leg, and even steal my things. But when I played with kids of my own age, I was fine. In fact, sometimes I became a bit of a bully myself, which wasn’t even necessary.”

Aaryamann recalled going to London and meeting with an accident. He said, “It was also a difficult phase, because during that time I broke my leg. It was just a hairline fracture. I came back to India and started playing again. I was playing for Maharashtra, and this time my leg shattered. It happened right in front of my father and his father, right in front of our eyes. In London, I remember when my leg broke, I tried to get up. I was thinking, this can’t happen again. How can my leg break again in just two months? The doctor had assured me that everything was fine. I tried to put my leg down, but my whole leg just bent awkwardly. I also remember that when my leg broke, I was crying. People were telling me, ‘Why are you crying? Don’t cry.’ And I said, ‘I’m not crying because of the pain. I’m crying because my dream is gone.’”

Aaryamann shared, “Naturally, I was also going through puberty, and when you’re a teenager, there is already a lot of anxiety, confusion, and emotional turmoil. But along with that, there was one thing I didn’t realize at all, which feels funny to say now. I didn’t even know that from the age of maybe 14 or 15 until about 28 or 29, I was depressed. For almost fifteen years, I think I was living in depression. I feel like most days of my life during that time were spent in that state. I don’t even know how to explain to someone how a person can stay depressed for so many years… but I was. And when I think about it now, I just feel like, oh my God.”

Talking about his surgeries, he said, “My nose has been broken twice. My nose used to be here, so I had to fix it and bring it back to the center because I broke it while playing football. I’ve had so many injuries multiple surgeries on my leg, my hand has been broken, I’ve broken six or seven bones, I even broke my hip once. But I think when you go through things like this, you really go through hell. And it teaches you to appreciate the good times. The good times start feeling even better after that.”

Aaryamann shared, “My anxiety and depression had reached such a bad point that everything felt dark. It felt like there was no light. Even if I was sitting in a room with lights on, it felt like there was no light at all. Everything looked almost black and white to me. I used to cry the whole day, and I kept saying, ‘I don’t feel okay… I don’t feel okay.’
And when I finally came out of that phase, it took a lot of effort, not just from me but from my family too. My mom was there with me the whole time. Every day I would ask her, ‘Mom… am I okay?’”

“The truth is, every person has something going on inside them. On the outside, the situation may look perfect, but what a person is going through internally can be completely different. People assume that if someone has money, then they must be happy. By that logic, Elon Musk should be the happiest person in the world, and I really don’t think he is. Look at Hollywood marriages and divorces these are some of the richest and most famous people in the world. Then why? Because happiness is not directly connected to money. Yes, money can solve some problems. It can give you comfort. But money is not the ultimate answer to everything.

Disclaimer

This article is intended for informational and awareness purposes only. It shares personal experiences and general discussions related to mental health, depression, and anxiety.