Shaniera Akram encourages people who are coping with depression to seek help

The shocking loss of celebs to suicide such as Kate Spade, Robin Williams and Anthony Bourdain has forced people around the world to confront some hard realities about mental illness.

Like the fact that seemingly happy and successful people may suffer in the grips of depression, or that despite living in the information age, there is little actual awareness about the disease.

The conversation continues in Pakistan, where celebs and other prominent personalities are trying to call attention to the hidden nature of depression. For World Suicide Prevention Day (which is actually on September 10), Shaniera Akram took to Twitter to talk about mental health.

"To anyone out there suffering depression, please ask for help. It’s 2018, You don’t have to walk alone anymore," she tweeted, adding "if we don’t understand, how are we ever able to help?If you know someone who is in the darkness, be their light and try to understand what they are going through. You might never know the difference you have made to someone’s life, just by understanding."

"By not understanding we are only leaving our loved ones alone in the darkness."

Recently, female football star, Hajra Khan also took to social media to share a long thread about her own battle with mental illness and the pressure on athletes to keep up appearances: