Prince Harry was joined by Meghan Markle as he spoke passionately about mental health struggles during their trip to Nigeria, which is in aid of the Invictus Games
Prince Harry spoke passionately about breaking down the stigma surrounding mental health struggles, with one expert pointing out a key message fans might have missed.
The Duke of Sussex was joined by Meghan Markle at the Lights Academy in Abuja, Nigeria, where he spoke about how mental health is “still something we are relatively unsure of”. Wellness expert and mental health mentor Sara Goode praised Harry for his openness. She pointed to a “key” statement Harry made and said it can be a great reminder for those struggling.
Harry said: “Every single person in this room, the youngest, the oldest, every single person has mental health. So therefore, you have to look after yourself in order to be able to help other people, other people have to look after themselves in order to be able to look after you. That’s the way it works.”
Prince Harry gave a talk about mental health (
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AFP via Getty Images)
Speaking exclusively to The Mirror, Sara said: “This statement is key, if each of us learns to process and deal with our own emotional needs first, we stop projecting our feelings and therefore thoughts and judgements onto others. As the saying goes, ‘healed people heal people, hurt people hurt people’.
“Taking responsibility for how we feel, and being brave enough to ask for help when we need it shows everyone around us that it is OK to not be OK, we are all vulnerable in different ways, but we can find collective strength in that vulnerability when we take ownership of it.”
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Elsewhere in his speech, the Duke of Sussex added: “Every single one of those things is completely normal. It is a human reaction, whether it’s grief, stress, whatever the feeling is, it comes from experiences you have had.” Harry stressed how anyone can suffer from mental health issues “on any given day”.
He was joined by Meghan Markle (
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AFP via Getty Images)
In response, Sara said: “Our vast range of human emotions is completely normal and valid. It is our experience of what happens when we express our emotions that lead us to deal with them in unhealthy ways.
“From the moment we tell boys they shouldn’t cry, because it’s not ‘manly’, or we tell little girls that are having a ‘tantrum’ that it isn’t very ladylike to be angry; we are teaching them their feelings are invalid, or wrong. Our experiences write the story of our lives and become the things we believe – if we aren’t taught to express emotions in healthy ways, they eventually erupt out of us in unhealthy reactions and beliefs.”
The mental health expert also said Harry’s speech was “incredibly important”. She added: “For high profile figures to talk about their own struggles, it shows true leadership when you can open up and show people that vulnerability does not mean weakness.
“There is huge bravery in speaking out and asking for help; fear and courage are just opposite extremes of the same emotion, and the more people show this courage, the less everyone else fears the stigma.”
