May 30 (AZINS) Rohan Joshi, one of the faces of All India Backchod, more popularly known as AIB, has come out in the open about an issue he has been facing since childhood. Rohan opened up about facing anxiety issues since childhood, and his struggle to keep it at bay till date.

One of AIB's main crew, Rohan Joshi, opened up to Humans of Bombay about growing up with anxiety, failing and yet having the support of his near and dear ones. He also spoke about facing the issue till date, mentioning that he gets affected by a negative comment till date.

Talking about quitting school, Rohan mentioned "I had my first panic attack when I was 19. It started when a teacher in my engineering college began bullying & failing me. Once I even copied an assignment that got full marks, and he still failed me! It got so bad that one day, I threw up just outside college. I ran away to a beach & sat there for 5 hours.

Soon, that became a pattern. I was very afraid of going to college. But I couldn’t tell my parents I wanted to quit – as an Indian student, it’s a sin to drop out! I waited until I was asked to leave because of low attendance & then told my parents.

At first, they were upset. It was shameful for them that I had quit. We’d barely talk – so I took up an internship to get out of the house. Eventually, we made up – they weren’t upset because I dropped out, it was because of how I did."

On coping up with his issue till date, Rohan adds, "At my moms suggestion I joined a media course. There, it was better, but I wasn’t okay. There were days when I couldn’t get out of bed or I’d chew the insides of my mouth to shreds because I was so restless. I’d even lash out at my loved ones.

I began working as a stand-up comedian, so I spent a lot of time on social media, and it can be very toxic. Simple comments like, ‘You’re not funny, quit!’ would make me overthink & I’d feel like everything I was doing was pointless. 

I hit rock bottom after the AIB roast debacle. Imagine waking up to the whole media calling you a stain on the face of the nation! I felt helpless when the cops showed up at my mom’s door. I didn’t know how to face people, so I’d just stay at a friend’s place for days. 

I was in a very dark place. But my family & friends never gave up on me. Even today, I wake up to messages like, ‘Hey, just a feelings check!’ I went for therapy, took up exercise, and disconnected from things that triggered my anxiety.

But I still have bad days. No matter how much I try to not get affected by a random person’s words, it happens. But I’m learning to deal. My journey of self-healing is an ongoing battle, and I’m okay with that. Because I’ve realized that I don’t have to go at it alone. I don’t have to give in, or give up. I just have to keep fighting."

Apart from AIB, Rohan has often been in news for dating Bollywood actress Alia Bhatt's sister Shaheen Bhatt. Interestingly Shaheen too opened up about dealing with depression and came out with a book on the same, which was backed by Alia. She is also currently penning down movie scripts - Sadak 2 and Aashiqui 3 being a few of them.