Urwa and Mawra Hocane think you can eat your depression away

When will our celebrities stop making ignorant statements about mental health?

The Hocane sisters, Mawra and Urwa appeared on Nida Yasir's morning show to promote their new clothing line, U X M and somehow the conversation shifted to talking about mental well-being.

In a clip that is now making rounds on social media, it's clear that they think depression is solely caused by your diet. Urwa went on to make a blanket statement: "There are so many problems these days, we hear someone say that they've got depression or mental 'disease', but its all because of food! There's no other reason."

“It’s what you put in your body", added Mawra, nodding in agreement.

It's about time celebrities educate themselves regarding mental health issues. Trivialising such an important issue is never okay. While we agree that eating a well-balanced diet is important and part of self-care, it is irresponsible to say it is the ONLY thing that causes mental illness or mood disorders like depression. Not to mention, sometimes it's just not in your control because not eating or not eating healthy is often even a symptom of depression.

Also, not everyone can afford to eat avocado ka halwa, if you know what we're talking about.

Mental illnesses are as real as physical ailments so we must make it acceptable for people to seek professional and medical help when they are going through a troubling time, instead of telling them to turn to things like religion, or food in this case. While that can help as a secondary support mechanism, it is dangerous to imply that those are treatments.

As confirmed by a Harvard Medical School study, there are several causes of depression that include faulty mood regulation by the brain, genetic vulnerability, stressful life events, or even side-effects of medication like birth control.

Mawra has since taken to her Instagram to defend the statement through a Google screenshot which reads: “If you eat lots of processed meat, fried food, refined cereals, candies, pastries, and high fats products, you are more likely to be anxious and depressed."

Well, looks like she completely missed the point. Even the screenshot doesn't state that food is the only reason for depression. Let's hope that our celebrities learn to admit their mistakes, recognise their own influence and privilege and make amends.