‘Vasudha’ Actress Pratiksha Rai Reveals She Once Considered Suicide, Says She Even Looked Up Ways to End Her Life

Mumbai: Actress Pratiksha Rai, best known for her role in the television show Vasudha, has opened up about her deeply personal struggle with mental health.

In a candid conversation with IANS, Pratiksha revealed that she once went through a period where she had suicidal thoughts. She shared that after her father’s passing, she felt completely shattered and even searched online for painless ways to end her life. “I even looked on Google for how to end it without pain. I felt like everything was over. But thankfully, I had my mother and my brothers—they gave me a reason to stay alive. I chose to live for them,” she said.

Pratiksha expressed her frustration with how society treats mental health issues, noting that concern often comes too late. “When someone dies by suicide, suddenly everyone remembers them. But when a person is alive and suffering, nobody pays attention. People gossip, they mock, and they call you an attention seeker. I’ve faced this too. That’s why I stopped sharing my struggles with most people.”

She added that she now confides only in a select few—or sometimes even with AI tools—because she fears her problems will become fodder for gossip. “Technology can help by listening, but it can never replace real human emotional support. AI can hear you, but it can’t feel. As a society, we need to understand that these aren’t just stories—these are people’s lives.”

Pratiksha also reflected on how many individuals have suffered severe losses after COVID-19, from jobs to financial stability to loved ones. Within the entertainment industry, she noted that the struggle has intensified, with payments dropping and incomes remaining almost unchanged since 2018 or 2019.

“The numbers are frightening. Having gone through a very dark time after losing my father, I know exactly what people feel in such moments. Everyone keeps saying ‘be strong,’ but when you reach that stage where suicide crosses your mind, it isn’t about being strong or weak.”

With inputs from IANS