Sania Mirza: Throughout our lives we’re so busy that we fail to recognise that mental health is an issue – tennis

All of us, at some point in our life, struggle with mental health issues, feels Sania Mirza. It’s just that we don’t understand until it hits hard. The ace tennis player urges that one needs to accept it at times to see the way out of it.

“It’s normal to feel anxious, nervous, not being able to sleep. Saying this from my personal experience, when recently I faced anxiety, there was nothing that actually triggered it. It was something that was probably going on and we mask it so well that we don’t even recognise it,” says Mirza.

Like many, Mirza, too, agrees that this unprecedented Covid-19 crisis has affected global economy that in turn has led to many worrying about their future.

Doing her bit, she’s supporting a few local small business ventures by giving them a shout out via social media.

The idea is “to give back to the society”. Urging everyone to help each other, Mirza stresses on the importance of our mind and body to be able to deal with difficult emotions.

She says, “Throughout our lives, we’re so busy with other things that we ignore our mental health. It’s absolutely fine to feel depressed and even cry. Whenever that happens, talk to someone who’s close to you. I also do that.”

Irrespective of how the day is going by, Mirza, 33, says “staying positive and close to our family” is all that matters. She continues, “I drive strength from my family, especially my son Izhaan. No matter how bad my day is, his smile makes everything better. I’m sure we all have that one person who makes us feel that way. Keep them closer.”

She recently spoke about how difficult it is for her to stay away from husband, cricketer Shoaib Malik, who is in Pakistan. Mention that and she shares, “We’re stuck in two different countries and we definitely don’t know when this is going to end. That’s a huge thing to deal with. But we stay in touch on calls.”

Adding that their son Izhaan is even more affected, she says, “He’s at an age when he has started recognising and responding. Though he can’t really speak, but there are random times when he says ‘baba’ out of nothing. Probably that’s him missing his dad. So, it hasn’t been easy, but we need to be grateful that we’re safe.”

Looking forward, Mirza says that once things get better, she and her son would like “to spend quality time” with Malik. “Izhaan would like to see his father. We’re grateful that we have food on our table when many are suffering from starvation. Also, now we all know the importance of being with our families, how together we can win over any difficulty,” she concludes.

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