Inside Aahana Kumra’s Mental Battle: How Anxiety and Claustrophobia Tested Her On ‘Rise and Fall’

Mumbai:Aahana Kumra is no stranger to pushing her limits — on screen and off it. Known for her fearless roles and unfiltered honesty, the actor recently opened up about a deeply personal journey during her stint on the reality show Rise and Fall.In an emotional revelation, Aahana shared how she battled anxiety, claustrophobia, and brain fog throughout the intense, high-pressure environment of the show. Despite serious doubts, she chose to walk into the unknown — a decision that challenged not just her emotional resilience but her mental health boundaries.Already in the midst of healing and taking medication for anxiety, Aahana was torn. But something inside her pushed her forward. “Main is format se bohot saalon se bach rahi thi. Eventually, I said — let me try it.”Aahana Kumra On Dealing With Brain Fog When asked about how she dealt with brain fog during Rise and Fall, Aahana Kumra said, “Haan, mujhe show ke dauraan bhi brain fog hua tha bohot baar. Actually, yeh toh main kahungi kyunki mujhe nahi lagta agar main in 15 logon se is area ke bahar milti toh yeh log aise hote. Par mujhe nahi pata yeh log kaise hain kyunki main toh pehli baar bohot logon se mili thi. In fact, main sirf Arjun ko jaanti thi, baaki main kisi ko nahi jaanti thi.”She added, “Lekin hota kya hai na, aapko situations aisi di jaati hain, shows ke dauraan k,i you are pushed into that direction. You are pushed into thinking like that. You are pushed into feeling a certain way. Aapke paas phones nahi hote, aapke upar 24 ghante camera roll ho raha hota hai. Kabhi na kabhi aapke muh se koi baat nikal jaati hai kisi ke against ya kisi ke liye jo aap actually mean nahi karte ho. And phir aapko lagta hai, ‘Yaar, maine aisa kya bol diya?’ At least mujhe toh aisa lagta tha. Baaki logon ka main nahi keh sakti.” Aahana Kumra On How Reality TV Shows Work Speaking of what happens on shows like Rise and Fall, Aahana shares, “Par in shows ke dauraan aapko kabhi-kabhi aise directions mein push kiya jaata hai. Aapko sochne par majboor kar diya jaata hai ki shayad yeh insaan aisa hai. Toh it can make you act and behave, right, in a very abnormal way, jo aap otherwise kabhi behave nahi karte. So, I saw that and I think main kaafi had tak is show par ek observer rahi hoon. Kyunki bohot situations aisi thi jahan log jhagad rahe the aur main bas dekh rahi thi. Main observe kar rahi thi ki yeh jhagde kyun ho rahe hain. Phir mujhe lagta tha ki yeh jagda kisi kaam ka nahi hai, kyunki yeh log ek reality show kar rahe hain aur inka main kaam hai jhagda karna kisi na kisi mudde par.”Aahana Kumra On How Reality TV Shows Work Speaking of what happens on shows like Rise and Fall,Aahana shares, “Par in shows ke dauraan aapko kabhi-kabhi aise directions mein push kiya jaata hai. Aapko sochne par majboor kar diya jaata hai ki shayad yeh insaan aisa hai. Toh it can make you act and behave, right, in a very abnormal way, jo aap otherwise kabhi behave nahi karte. So, I saw that and I think main kaafi had tak is show par ek observer rahi hoon. Kyunki bohot situations aisi thi jahan log jhagad rahe the aur main bas dekh rahi thi. Main observe kar rahi thi ki yeh jhagde kyun ho rahe hain. Phir mujhe lagta tha ki yeh jagda kisi kaam ka nahi hai, kyunki yeh log ek reality show kar rahe hain aur inka main kaam hai jhagda karna kisi na kisi mudde par.”Aahana On Her Anxiety Speaking about dealing with her anxiety, Aahana shared, “I did speak about my anxiety. Mujhe anxiety hai. Isiliye main roz subah dhoop seekhti hoon. Main park jaati hoon. Mere paas bohot ped-paudhe hain. Maine khud do ped lagaye hain park mein. Main subah running karti hoon. Mere paas meri teen billiyan hain, park mein jinse main khelti hoon. Mere dogs hain. There are many things, like butterflies, I watch. Mujhe parrots dekhna pasand hai. Mujhe yeh sab karne mein bahut maza aata hai. And this is usually who I am.”Aahana Opens Up On Her Claustrophobia The actress opened up about her claustrophobia. She said, “Mujhe claustrophobia bhi hai. Toh jab main show sign kar rahi thi aur unhone bola basement, basement, basement, tab mujhe realise hua ki mujhe dhoop dekhne ka mauka nahi milega. And that’s when I had double thoughts ki mujhe yeh show karna chahiye ya nahi, kyunki yeh meri mental health ke liye thoda mushkil ho sakta tha. Kyunki main abhi medication ke beech mein hoon aur healing ke process mein hoon. So, should I really be doing this format? Kya yeh format mere liye correct hai iss moment mein? But mujhe kuch naya try karna tha. I wanted to do something new. Main is format se bohot saalon se bach rahi thi. Toh maine socha ki captive reality karun ya na karun. Maine bohot socha iske baare mein. Eventually, I agreed, and I said, ‘Okay, let me do this. Let me try it.’”