Prince Harry speaks out.

He'd probably blame Harry's mother's bad genes for the his being bonkers.

Come to think of it, DGF's mother was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, so probably has some knowledge and experience of mental illness.

Can you imagine what his DGF would have to say about therapy?

I call that face my Eleanor Rigby face.

"Eleanor Rigby, picks up the rice
In the church where a wedding has been
Lives in a dream
Waits at the window, wearing the face
That she keeps in a jar by the door
Who is it for"

I do sometimes wonder if my Pollyanna tendencies come to the fore in this kind of debate. The older I get, the more I accept that all of us are carrying some kind of "stuff", coping with all kinds of loss, sadness, even anxiety, depression and other ills but somehow, presenting an ok face to the world. As daphned said earlier, H (and W and K) had to fly round the world as part of their work in the Royal Family and they got on with it. I'm sure many of us have somehow got on with caring or work responsibilities when in truth, we wanted to curl up in a ball and avoid them all.
Just because Harry was born into wealth and privilege, doesn't exclude him from any of that. Of course, he could buy Therapy. He doesn't come from a family that takes to Therapy easily, it seems to me. He grew up in the shadow of an acrimonious divorce that the whole world knew about, as it knew about allegations his father, isn't in fact his father. He lost his mother at an age that research confirms is especially lethal on the later depression front. Give him and everyone else struggling with m.h./addiction etc difficulties a break. We're all human. It could be one of use tomorrow, or one of our loved ones. I think that's the point he and K and W are trying to make.

Ahh thank you Iam64, that is seriously a relief,? I get very saddened when people seem only to focus on the negative & cannot give credit where credit is due .

Neither do I norose.

Everyone has very valid points,for 30 plus years my ex tried everything to help his depression some on NHS ,& some paid for when we could afford it, in the end he just learnt to live with it which seems to be what many sufferers do, it just seems such a shame to me that Prince Harry is being slated by some because he can afford professional help, (as can many other people, )but,obviously their are lots of people who cannot & yes the waiting time is bad, it seems to me that Prince Harry Is just trying to let others know how hard it is to admit it to ones self & to talk about it. So he is hoping that if he can be open about it (yes with all his privalages!)then that may help to remove the real & perceived stigma that many people are fearful of. surely that in its self is praiseworthy & positive so why slate it! ?? I just don't get it!!

Asking for help and being told it will take months does not help

Maybe. It can also make it worse, if you feel you have to keep up a brave face. When I've been acutely depressed, there's no way I could have travelled the world, even if I'd been a billionaire. None of knows what Harry's like when the photographers haven't been around.

Ruby Wax and Stephen Fry have both spoken openly of being able to make public appearances while feeling like poo. Fry has said that he sees himself as an outsider and disconnected from the real person. He's walked out of performances a couple of times, because he couldn't cope. I guess he also has the money to buy the best treatment.

I agree with you that depression can lead to debt, etc which makes the situation worse and rich people don't have to worry about that, but it still doesn't stop the depression in the first place.

Harry's message seemed to be not to soldier on, but ask for help as early as possible. I agree that the help is inadequate, but for many, asking for the help is the first stage of treatment and it doesn't matter how rich you are. Sometimes it's too difficult to ask for the help in the first place.

I thunk wealth can ease depression , if on a low income comes more to make one depressed , having to get to work but getting out of bed leaves one exhausted, long waiting times for professional help. Harry was able to travel the world, have the best oriffiinal help money can buy, none if these cures depression but they do help ease it

Do you mean me as one of the "some posters"?

If so, the reason I'm pedantic is that I've suffered from depression all my adult life and I know the difference between depression and grief. I do think the difference is relevant.

I'm not criticising people who try to help, but sometimes it isn't helpful. Sometimes people think that depression has to have a cause, but sometimes it really doesn't. Most people understand grief after (for example) a bereavement. The problem arises when people look for a cause and there isn't an obvious one. Then they say things such as "I don't know what you've got to be depressed about", which doesn't solve anything and makes the sufferer feel even worse with feelings of guilt and inadequacy.

There's some evidence on this thread that some people think Prince Harry should get over it and that somehow his depression (if that's what he's had) isn't so bad as that suffered by somebody less privileged.

Apologies for missed words , but hope you get my drift

Who was trying to label grief as mental illness? Why is there a need for some posters to be so pedantic about this subject, ANYONE who can help someone else to deal with grief, depression,sadness, loneliness etc etc should at the very least be acknowledged as trying to do some good by opening about these conditions so that sufferers so they don't feel so isolated & alone , does it matter what we call it ? Grief can turn into depression, as can any other human condition
Now what is that saying ? Oh yes I know. ..., Walk a mile in my shoes, before you crtiisise & abuse ..... maybe a thought for the day ladies... ?

One positive result is threads such as this, which has been a forum for discussion about mental health issues.

I totally agree jalima and dd, also Harry's had to contend with a question mark over his paternity again in the full glare of world publicity and accompanying gossip; this must have been really horrible for him. So yes, this young man, privileged as he is, has had his full share of emotional trauma.

I agree with you Jalima. I'm not a follower of royal family gossip, but I think it might be useful to put ourselves into Harry's shoes. From what I know, his parents had an unhappy marriage. Both had affairs. If he ever read newspapers and magazines, there were stories about his parents, which presented images of his parents which didn't coincide with his own view of his parents. It really must have been something which most of us don't understand.

All the time, the paparazzi were just interested in photos and gossip, which reduced Harry and William to celebs. I wonder how many people who resent his privilege would really swap their childhood for his.

daphnedill Sat 22-Apr-17 17:39:51
Good post daphnedill

I do think, however, losing your mother at 12 in a shocking accident is quite different to a bereavement which happens at a normal life-span. Being unable to work through that grief could cause mental health problems beyond those of a feeling of depression (different from clinical depression) caused by a bereavement.

anniebach I do hope your daughter comes through this with help and medication and gets on an even keel again.

Aw Niggly X

I agree with you Ruth and that's what I wrote at the beginning of this thread. Being incredibly sad when somebody dies or being angry about an injustice isn't a mental illness.

I get very frustrated when people say "I'm sooooo depressed" when they've had a bad day at work or split up with a partner.

I'm not saying that people don't suffer genuine grief and that counselling shouldn't be available, because grief can lead to more serious problems, but I do think that the public doesn't really understand mental illness.

I interpret Harry's disclosure as a plea for a change in understanding and culture. A stiff upper lip isn't the solution to any mental disturbance.

.^that Prince Harry should not equate grief with mental illness. He did nothing of the sort, of course: what he did was point out that mental health can encompass everything from sadness to schizophrenia, just as physical health spans a spectrum from common colds to cancer^
My post today at 15.13
He did not, we are not, but mental health covers a whole spectrum as above.

My only concern is trying to label grief as a mental illness..it's not. We are all going to experience death. I think mental illness may become the new celebrity ' must have '....yawn!

Indeed it doesn't dd.

Course it isn't annie. You can't say what might have been had circumstances been different, but for certain none of your daughters difficulties are your fault and although I can see that at times you might feel this, it is nothing you have said or done, it is as you say the illness, and I am very sorry that you have, and do have this sad, exhausting and deeply worrying situation.

"We make mistakes but most of us don't have to grow up in the glare of an often critical public." Very well said!

The late Duke of Westminster grew up on a farm in Northern Ireland. He didn't expect to become one of the richest men in the world. He had wanted to become a professional soldier, not the landlord of some of the most valuable parts of London or thousands of acres of Cheshire farmland. He had a breakdown in his forties, from which he never fully recovered. He was Prince William's unofficial life mentor.

Hans Rausing is also immensely rich, but it didn't stop him becoming a drug addict and complete wreck,asevidenced by trying to hide his wife's dead body.

I don't suppose many people have much sympathy for either men because they were born into huge wealth and I'm sure that they received the best treatment money could buy, but it doesn't stop them being human.

Iam, love and hugs back, thank you. These thoughts st times creep in, suppose trying to make some sense from it but I know the answer is the illness not anything I have done or didn't do.,