Prince Harry opening up about mental health - it's normal to feel sad, mad and utterly lost
The royal's interview with The Telegraph is a reminder that we need to open up about these issues
Prince Harry has been praised for opening up about his own mental health issues.Mental health experts have praised Prince Harry for revealing that he sought counselling after 20 years of bottling up his grief over his mother’s death – and for speaking so honestly about it.
The prince said he hadsuppressed his emotions after losing his mother, Princess Diana, when he was 12. He took up boxing to help cope with feelings of aggression before finally seeking counselling.
“I have probably been very close to a complete breakdown on numerous occasions when all sorts of grief and all sorts of lies and misconceptions and everything are coming to you from every angle,” he said in an interview with Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper.
Harry, his brother Prince William, and William's wife Catherine set up the Heads Together campaign in Britain last year to tackle the stigma associated with mental health issues, especially among men and boys.
Sir Simon Wessely, the president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said the prince had achieved more in terms of communicating mental health issues in a 25-minute interview than he had in a 25-year career.
“He has a reach across the world that people like me can only dream – he will have communicated in a way that I have been working all my life to achieve,” he said.
Wessely said grief – “though raw, painful and uncomfortable” – should not be viewed as a mental health problem and, for some, coping with it in silence could be the right approach.
“It’s not rocket science, and we should be wary of applying an orthodox approach to the individual experience of grief,” he said. “However there are times when prolonged grief can become a barrier, preventing us from moving on in life, and then it can become a problem which may perhaps need help.”
Marjorie Wallace, founder of the mental health charity Sane, said: “It’s done more good than many, many campaigns. It’s given a message of hope that feelings left for too long can become malignant – but that it is never too late to seek help.”
Paul Farmer, chief executive of mental health charity Mind, said the interview would have a huge impact. “It’s inspiring to see Prince Harry speaking out about his experiences. It shows how far we have come in changing public attitudes to mental health that someone so high-profile can open up about something so difficult and personal,” he said.
“We know that this will have a huge impact on people who are still struggling in silence with their mental health – every time someone in the public eye speaks up we know that it encourages ordinary members of the public to do the same.
Sue Baker, director of the Time to Change mental health charity, said research showed that speaking out helps overturn stigma.
“Prince Harry sharing his experiences of mental health issues and the counselling he sought as a result of losing his mother will have helped change attitudes, not just at home but also overseas. It was a dream of mine 20 years ago that we’d see the royal family join sports people, music stars, politicians and business leaders as well as everyday people in sharing their mental health experiences in all sorts of communities,” she said.
She said: “Mental health problems affect people of all ages and all backgrounds. The bravery of those in public positions who speak out about their experiences helps smash the stigma around mental health and will help thousands of people to realise they are not alone.
“If we are to tackle this injustice, we must forge a new approach that recognises our responsibility to each other, and make mental illness an everyday concern for all of us and in every one of our institutions.”
On Twitter there was admiration for the prince for breaking the stigma over speaking of mental health and bereavement. Chuka Umunna, the former Labour shadow cabinet member, tweeted: