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Prince Harry of Wales recently made headlines when he talked about seeking some therapeutic counseling in order to better process losing his mother at such a young age.
“My way of dealing with it [Diana’s death] was sticking my head in the sand, refusing to ever think about my mum, because why would that help?” — leading to “two years of total chaos” in his life. He says that “I just couldn’t put my finger on it,” adding “I just didn’t know what was wrong with me.” And this is so often the case when we’re in the midst of an emotional breakdown. We can cover it up by putting on a smile and pretending to the rest of the world that everything is okay, or we can isolate ourselves to avoid having to deal with the issue.
Now, Harry, his brother Prince William, and William’s wife Catherine, are talking candidly about the value of therapy for the “Heads Together” campaign (@heads_together), which is meant to help erase the stigma that is still attached to the notion of seeking therapy.
Catherine, forever “Kate Middleton” to the headlines, is credited here with coming up with the campaign, having realized that mental health was an important thread that ran through so much of the charitable works they patronize, whether it’s homelessness (William’s interest), military vets (Harry’s) or addiction (Kate’s).
Thank God for subtitles, because my peasant ears couldn’t understand a word they said. Still, it’s lovely to see these HRH’s publicly discuss, in sometimes very frank ways, about their issues — particularly when they must know there will (undoubtedly) be predictable jeering from predictable quarters.
There is something very powerful, and yes de-stigmatizing I think, about watching these three young adults — who, by the world’s standards, “have it all” — doing this. It brings home the simple truth that everyone suffers, even the people who seem to “have it all”, and that there is no shame in seeking help.
Life is hard. So, so, many people have had times in their life where they have discerned a need to get some counseling in order to process issues or painful experiences in order to get past them, or learn to look at them in a healthier way.
My saying so won’t have much influence, but there you go. I’ll chime in and say it — yep, I sought help for something, and yes, it made a difference. It’s #oktosay
And today we celebrate...