In a latest development in the suicide case of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput, the actor's therapist has informed a journalist that he was suffering from bipolar disorder and that his girlfriend Rhea was like a mother figure to him.

Speaking to a renowned journalist, the psychologist-therapist, Susan Walker, reportedly mentioned, "Sushant was suffering terribly during his bouts of depression and hypomania. I met Sushant and Rhea on several occasions in November and December 2019 and communicated again with Rhea in June of this year. Sushant was suffering from bipolar disorder, a severe mental illness that can be crippling for an individual during an episode. The symptoms of which can include severe anxiety, major depression and sometimes disordered thinking and paranoia. The continuing, appalling stigma around mental illness makes it very difficult for patients and their families to reach out. This has to stop. Mental illness is no different than cancer or diabetes."

"People with mental illnesses and their families need to feel safe from discrimination so that they can get their treatment and support and acceptance they need. There is no shame in having a mental illness. Should one feel ashamed of having cancer? Mental illness can be treated, it is often the shame of having such an illness that can drive people to suicide. Along with the absolute torment of being in the grip of an illness that affects the ways out minds and emotions work," she further added.

Meanwhile, another probe is in progress as Sushant's father has accused the actor's girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty of abetting his suicide. Based on the complaint, an FIR was registered against Rhea under sections 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint), 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement), 380 (theft in dwelling house), 406 (punishment for criminal breach of trust), 420 (Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) and 306 (abetment of suicide) of the Indian Penal Code. Sushant Singh Rajput died by suicide in Mumbai on June 14.