Actress: I thought I was just an angry teenager

Happier days: Elza (right) posing for a photograph with her late mother and sister Inessa Irdayanty on Hari Raya in 2012, the year she sought help to overcome her depression.

PETALING JAYA: When Elza Irdalynna Khairil Anwar’s mother, the late veteran actress Azean Irdawaty, was battling cancer, it seemed selfish for her to admit that she was fighting her own demons.

Elza, who also became an actress, refused to believe she was depressed until an anxiety attack left her feeling hollow and scared.