NEW UPDATE! Devastating suicide fears for EastEnders’ Ravi as mental health story reaches crisis point
There’s heartbreak heading for Albert Square, as EastEnders bosses have revealed that Ravi Gulati’s (Aaron Thiara) mental health struggle becomes so unbearable that the troubled bad boy contemplates ending his own life.
Ravi is certainly one of the more dark and complex residents of Walford, and that is really saying something. He’s a tortured soul and a ruthless criminal who engages in drug trafficking for profit, but would go to the ends of the Earth for his family.
Viewers saw this firsthand after the troubled badboy was rocked to discover that he had unknowingly attacked son Davinder ‘Nugget’ Gulati (Juhaim Rasul Choudhury) in a drug-induced frenzy. Ever since, a guilt-ridden Ravi has been wracked with depression.
This was the handiwork of Nicola Mitchell (Laura Doddington), who spiked Ravi in revenge for her his part in her son Harry’s (Elijah Holloway) traumatic hostage ordeal and relapse into drug use.
Not only that, but Ravi had a secret sideline working a a police informant to keep himself out of prison. This wasn’t exactly a low stress job, and it only got worse once drug dealer Mark Fowler Jr (Stephen Aaron-Sipple) worked out that he was the grass.
The stress of working as a police informant led to Ravi’s breakdown.
When Ravi’s wife Priya (Sophie Khan Levy) saw how much pain he was in, she urged Jack Branning (Scott Maslen) to put an end to her husband’s informing. This only prompted a furious Ravi to lure Mark into the woods where he revealed that he was the informant.
Predictably, Mark responded by beating the living daylights out of him. Priya patched Ravi up, which led to her devastating discovery that her partner had been self-harming.
Distraught, she begged him to seek help, and audiences were left feeling there was light at the end of the tunnel now that Ravi had his family to confide in.
However, things are about to go downhill fast.
Over the next few weeks, viewers will see how Ravi struggles, feeling powerless and believing he is unable to protect his family. As Ravi reaches a crisis point, his family are finally able to get him to accept the help he needs.
EastEnders has been working with Samaritans on this part of Ravi’s mental health storyline to ensure it is portrayed as accurately and as sensitively as possible.
Executive Producer Ben Wadey said: ‘EastEnders always takes great care when researching storylines such as Ravi’s and we’re grateful to Samaritans for the advice they have given us, helping us ensure Ravi’s story is told with the care and sensitivity it deserves.’
Lorna Fraser, Head of Media Advisory Service at Samaritans added: ‘Storylines responsibly reflecting experiences of mental health and suicide can help tackle stigma and encourage viewers who might be struggling to talk about how they are feeling.
‘We’re proud to have supported EastEnders with covering Ravi’s self-harm and mental health crisis sensitively and grateful for their efforts in making this as safe as possible. We hope it helps anyone watching to seek support if they need it.