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Actor Zhalay Sarhadi opened up about her physical health and how society constantly criticises women for various aspects in a recent interview with Mathira. The actor said that people often ask intrusive and unnecessary questions. “When I tell people that I have a daughter, they ask me why did I not have more children. How am I supposed to explain to them that I’ve had three really bad miscarriages in my life, due to which I have hypothyroid and they were not because I diet or exercise, they just happened to me,” she said.

“While shooting for Jalaibee, I got to know that I was pregnant and later I had a miscarriage. I started gaining a lot of weight after that so I got it checked and found out that I have hypothyroid.”

The Chalay Thay Saath actor spoke about how a miscarriage affects a female body both mentally and physically, and people have an odd perception that women are only supposed to get married and produce children. She added that women are criticised over anything and everything, be it gaining or losing weight, skin colour or their features.

Kudos to both the actor and the host for speaking about such an important topic — it’s extremely important for artists to talk about issues everyone goes through but aren’t discussed enough.

Talking about how society makes everything a taboo, Sarhadi said, “When you stop and think everything is taboo, we aren’t able to find solutions.

“Going to a psychologist or psychiatrist is a taboo. Your mental health is as important as your physical health and for your physical health you need a doctor, similarly, for your mental health you have other specialists like psychologists and psychiatrists that you need to go to. I have been to a psychiatrist.”

We hope to see more artists talk about mental health issues and other health issues as it can help create more awareness in our society.