Mental health illnesses are often shrugged off in Pakistan, and it’s a shame to see influential individuals with significant clout make reckless assumptions about those who suffer in the dark. We condemn such problematic statements and hope Urwa and Mawra clear the air.
Urwa and Mawra Hocane recently appeared on contentious host Nida Yasir’s morning show to promote their new clothing brand. Midway through the interview, the sisters were asked about how they maintain their thin frames, and that’s when things went all downhill…
Urwa said that “burgers” and meals on holidays were a big problem, and Mawra agreed – “junk food is bad.”
Urwa went onto say “it’s not even food, it looks like food so don’t have it.” While Mawra did admit that they will cheat occasionally, Urwa adamantly interrupted and said the way we don’t eat the “kachra” in our homes, we shouldn’t eat junk food.
Both sisters advocated eating “clean” and how not allowing “quality” foods into your body catered to mental instability.
“Aapki mental health pe bhi bara farq parta hai, ke aap apne andar kya daal rahe hain just by the way,” said Urwa. She went onto owe “depression” and “mental disease” to what you consume; “it’s all because of food.” Mawra agreed; “it’s what you put in your body.” Urwa insisted that depression stems from what you put in your body and then discussed how in archaic times no one suffered from depression because they were not, well essentially fat.
Urwa’s problematic comments naturally haven’t sat well with people…
#MawraHocane and #UrwaHocane with #NidaYasir discussing mental health stating that the cause of depression is related to the food we eat. Morning shows are so Dumb in #Pakistanpic.twitter.com/CPedxxaewl
— mustafa (@mustafas_01) August 6, 2019
Psychologists and people studying psychology as their major after seeing urwa and mawra's talk about depression.#MawraHocane #UrwaHocane @MawraHocane @VJURWA #depression #mentalhealth pic.twitter.com/rbSAVE7J6c
— i was the moon (@_mariumkhan) August 6, 2019
So according to DOCTOR urwa and mawra hocane, the reason for Depression and all the other mental illnesses is food 😂😂. I am done seriously Hats Offhttps://t.co/jiqdXpu3BP#MawraHocane #urwahocane @MawraHocane
— Brown Girl ✨ (@the_desi_dream) August 6, 2019
Urwa and Mawra’s reckless comments about what causes depression is a hapless reality in Pakistan where mental health is dismissed as a farce. Ludicrous statements such as these are the reason many sufferers of depression (and respective mental health illnesses) might feel they cannot speak up in an overtly judgemental, impetuous environment. We condemn such problematic statements and hope Urwa and Mawra clear the air.
You can watch the full interview here.