Rashami Desai opens up about her darkest phase: I was very negative, had suicidal thoughts!

Rashita Sahni

Rashami Desai, known for her roles in shows like Uttaran and Dil Se Dil Tak, recently joined The Free Press Journal’s new chat show Sheroes for a candid conversation and spoke her heart out about dealing with emotional lows. The actress shared the details of a challenging period in her life and how therapy helped her come out of it. The actress even made a shocking revelation of wanting to end her life during her darkest phase.

The actress opened up about her lowest time and shared, “There was a time when I used to crib a lot. I was very negative. I didn’t know what to do. There was suicidal thought also because at a very young age, I started working and got success. So I was living my character’s life. Your mind gets used to it and then it becomes a habit.

So I didn’t know the ‘switch off switch on’ theory and I basically couldn’t understand what was happening to me. People who knew me told ‘she’s not like this’. They asked me to take professional help and during that time, going to a counsellor meant you’re mad. Going to a psychiatrist and going to a counsellor are two different things and people are understanding that now. 12-15 years back, people couldn’t understand all of this. So it was very difficult for me to explain it to people.

I just thought I have to work on myself so at a very young age, I started taking counselling. Most of the actors and influential people go through this. They need help. Sometime your own thoughts are wired up so you don’t know how to segregate them. There’s nothing wrong with taking professional help. You should.”

When asked about her downfall, Rashami said “During that time I realised yes, I had an Audi. So I understood, Jo Dikhta Hai Wahi Bikta Hai (what’s seen is sold). I used to go everywhere in that car and people used to help me because of the kind of work I had done. 

Nobody knew what I was actually going through. But I think the best time is when you don’t have anything because then you don’t fear anything. So that is the reason I think so it helped me a lot. I used to think I’ll tackle whatever happens. That was my attitude. But after that, I minimised my life that I don’t want to get used to the luxury because we anyway don’t get that at shoot. Not everywhere all the facilities are available.

So I’ve changed my priorities and I’ve minimised my certain things. But that situation taught me only 3 things - Nothing is permanent, this too shall pass & even if you have everything behave like you do not have anything! In life, when you see a high, you will also face the lows. This is a part of life. You won’t be at the same scale, always.

There are a lot of actors who have faced this. Even Sidharth Malhotra had a downfall but it’s not about you going and telling 10 people. It’s about you working on it. That’s more important.” On the work front, Rashami started 2025 on a great note with her Gujrati film Mom Tane Nai Samjay receiving massive critical acclaim.