Actors-How to Improve Your Mental Health And Be Successful In Bollywood

For Actors

Actor's mental health includes their emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how they think, feel and act as they cope with life and success or failure. It also helps determine how they handle stress, relate to others, and make choices. Mental health is important at every stage of life and especially in the life span of an actor.

Do you know there is a Mind/Body Connection? 

Emotions can affect Your Health.

What is good mental/emotional health?

All top Bollywood actors who have achieved stardom have good mental/emotional health. They have developed it by studying and practicing. They are aware of their thoughts, feelings and behaviors. They have learned healthy ways to cope with the stress and problems that are a normal part of life. They feel good about themselves and have healthy relationships.

However, many things that happen in your life can disrupt your mental health and lead to strong feelings of sadness, stress or anxiety. These things include:

• Rejections in auditions/ getting right roles
• Tensions while giving a shot
• Not been able to memorize or forgetting lines
• If you are shy and introvert and if it is affecting your future as an actor
• Dealing with the death of a loved one
• Failed love affair
• Getting divorced or married
• Suffering an illness or an injury
• Getting a big role in a feature film under a top banner
• Experiencing money problems
• Legal or illegal issues
• Moving to a new city/home
• Having a pregnancy/baby
• “Good” changes can be just as stressful as “bad” changes.

How can my emotions affect my physical health?

Your body responds to the way you think, feel and act. This is often called the “mind/body connection.” When you are stressed, anxious or upset, your body tries to tell you that something isn’t right. For example, high blood pressure or a stomach ulcer might develop after a particularly stressful event, such as the death of a loved one.
Though there could be medical causes, the following also can be physical signs that your mental health is out of balance:

• Back pain
• Change in appetite
• Chest pain
• Constipation or diarrhea
• Dry mouth
• Extreme tiredness
• General aches and pains
• Headaches
• High blood pressure
• Insomnia (trouble sleeping)
• Lightheadedness
• Palpitations (the feeling that your heart is racing)
• Sexual problems
• Shortness of breath
• Stiff neck
• Sweating
• Upset stomach
• Weight gain or loss

Poor mental/emotional health can weaken your body's immune system, making you more likely to get colds and other infections during emotionally difficult times. Also, when you are feeling stressed, anxious or upset, you may not take care of your health as well as you should. You may not feel like exercising and building up a hot body required for an actor, eating nutritious foods or taking medicine that your doctor prescribes. Abuse of alcohol, tobacco or other drugs may also be a sign of poor mental health.

How can I improve my mental health?

First, try to recognize your positive or negative emotions affecting your mental health and understand why you are having them. Sorting out the causes of for example-forgetfulness, lack of concentration, anger, sadness, stress and anxiety in your life can help you manage your mental health. 

The following are some other helpful tips.

1. Express your feelings in appropriate ways. If feelings of stress, sadness or anxiety are causing mental problems, keeping these feelings inside can make you feel worse. It’s OK to let your loved ones know when something is bothering you. However, keep in mind that your family and friends may not be able to help you deal with your feelings appropriately. At these times, ask someone outside the situation--such as a counselor, a friend or a religious advisor--for advice and support to help you improve your mental health.
2. Live a balanced life. Try not to obsess about the problems at work, school or home that lead to negative feelings. This doesn’t mean you have to pretend to be happy when you feel stressed, anxious or upset. It’s important to deal with these negative feelings, but try to focus on the positive things in your life too. You may want to use a journal to keep track of things that make you feel happy or peaceful. Some research has shown that having a positive outlook can improve your quality of life and give your health a boost. You may also need to find ways to let go of some things in your life that make you feel stressed and overwhelmed. Make time for things you enjoy.
3. Develop the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; be tough. Actors with this ability (resilience) are able to cope with difficulties in building up mental qualities or stress in a healthy way. Toughness (Resilience) can be learned and strengthened with different strategies. 

Some strategies

1. Mental exercises especially for actors (this will be taken in the subsequent posts under label: "Mental Health For Actors") 
2. Building social support
3. Keeping a positive view of yourself;  for example "I'm good". "I will be a great actor"
4. Accepting change and then changing ones mental attitude accordingly 

• Calm your mind and body. Relaxation methods, such as meditation, are useful ways to bring your mental health and especially emotions into balance. Meditation is a form of guided thought. It can take many forms. For example, you may do it by exercising, stretching or breathing deeply or by yoga poses (Asanas)- Actors must join Yoga classes.

• Take care of yourself. To have good mental health, it’s important to take care of your body by having a regular routine for eating healthy meals, getting enough sleep and exercising to relieve pent-up tension. Avoid overeating and don’t abuse drugs or alcohol. Using drugs or alcohol just causes other problems, such as family and health problems.

We shall be discussing in detail the above points on improving mental health and how mental health can help you to be a great actor
Based on source
My personal observations:
It requires a certain temperament and personality to become an actor/actress. A truly gifted actor is of a mindset that is delicate and strong. Some of the best in the world are emotionally unstable or troubled or diagnosed with mental illnesses. Many are dealing with their lives by addictions-sex, alcohol, drugs, etc. A few of the oldest and famous withdraw and become hermits.  Some actors respond with violence (smashing cameras and paparazzi  and some have temperamental fits). Some handle the pressure with high gates and guards even for their children. I think that if you are a Bollywood or a Hollywood celebrity, you can likely handle the pressure and can afford therapists, holidays, expensive toys, selective friends, understanding spouses, etc. For lesser ones, coping with is difficult. These posts are a small effort to help actors to develop a good mental health and eventually become a celebrity