Mumbai, Oct 11 (IANS): Actress Deepika Padukone has raised the importance of spreading awareness about mental health at the launch of her NGO here.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday launched Deepika's NGO "Live Love Laugh", which will deal with the issue of mental health.

"We need to stigmatize mental illness and spread awareness about mental health. I know in the current scenario we lead stressful lives but you have to keep reminding yourself that it is important to live, love and laugh. After all that is what life is all about," Deepika said during the launch.

"Most importantly for people like me who have had an experience with anxiety and depression, I think it is important to know that there is hope," she added.

Deepika also talked about her depression and how her parents and loved ones helped her.

Talking about the depression of her elder daughter, Deepika's mother Ujjala Padukone said: "I detected the symptoms in Deepika and I thought it may be due to some boyfriend issue. But then I knew the depression is due to mental and physical stress and we realized that we should take help from a psychiatrist".

Deepika's father Prakash Padukone added: "I was worried about the health of my daughter and we wanted her to be fine".

The "Piku" star agreed that depression has changed her.

"A lot of experiences we go through in life makes you learn something and it makes you into a better person," she said.