Prince Harry speaks out.

Annie, sending you love and a hug. Please try not to ruminate and blame yourself. It's so easy as a parent when things go wrong, no matter how old our children are. Angry texts followed by loving ones, as you know, often go along with alcohol. Take care of yourself.

Cold, critical and what sound like bitter comments about William and Harry in my view, say much more about the speaker than those young men. It's easy to sneer from the sidelines. We all live the life we're born into. We make mistakes but most of us don't have to grow up in the glare of an often critical public.

I expect they would be to their mother, my son (aged52) is, in my eyes, still my boy, as my daughter (aged 49) is still my girl.

Wow! No answer to that really! except that no one can help the circumstances of their birth, the financial circumstances of their parents, where those parents choose to live or educate said person or indeed anything else. Would you rather they wore a hair shirt and did abject penance for life and grovel for forgiveness for the accident of their birth, or, as I think most people would prefer,try to do the best they can highlight very serious problems in the best way they can, imperfect though it maybe. Nothing in this world can alter who they are, so to be offensive and bitter is pretty pointless.

They sre Certsintly not boys

Diana would have been very proud of her boys. They have done a lot to help others and do not take their position for granted.

Thats a joke ....right?Firstly they are not BOYS ,they are all the men they'll ever be
secondly they expect the world to revolve around them ,that is patently obvious.
I wish no harm to anyone who lost a parent young,my father lost his mother when he was 12,the rest of his family 2 sisters and a brother were put in homes as his step father couldn't/wouldn't care for them ,my dad was farmed out with a neighbour .He didn't see his sisters until he was grown up and went in search of them .He was a fantastic dad,and the most tolerant of men ,he never once thought he'd had a rough run ,just that thats how life sometimes is .These over privileged young men haven't a clue about real life despite losing a parent ,they were still sheltered and cared for ,no expense spared for them...no having to leave school at 13 and get a job to support themselves.I really think this is just pure PR ,either that or they are so self absorbed they feel no one is giving them enough attention and they have gone out to get some from the media.I cannot understand this royalty worship that goes on,they are just humans .....not gods and we should stop treating them like gods

What he has done will, I am sure, encourage others to speak out.

Diana would have been very proud of her boys. They have done a lot to help others and do not take their position for granted.

I agree MawBroon, but as said in an early post some seperate emotional from mental . Rather like seperating measles from cancer for me, both are physical illnesses

I thought Bryon Gordon was spot on when she said today in the Telegraph (talking about her interview with Prince Harry)

Some commentators have said .........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

Harry has done no more or less than msny, he works for charities, has taken drugs, unfortunately got filmed st a party in the nude, I think William is more grounded, plus he is an introvert Harry an extrovert, William isn't happy with the camera, Harry loves the camera. Nothing unusual in siblings being so very different from each other

I do think that's a very unfair comment, Riverwalk. He's done OK so far without even mentioning it in public...

Harry & William seem to be living fully-functioning lives, albeit rather leisurely ones. Whatever their failings I don't think they can blame it on having lost their mother at such a young age.

Many children, myself included, lose a parent very early on.

I really hope that Harry doesn't make a career of his loss, as an excuse for living an idle life.

I think people sometimes forget that mental illness doesn't define a person's character. Even mentally ill people can have a positive outlook. They might know they're claustrophobic,but they're all different, so will try to deal with it in different ways.

ab So it's about time perception changes and people stop being so judgmental. I applaud the junior royals for doing their bit - and it can only ever be a bit.

Riverwalk There are so many forms of mental illness. Claustrophobia is offically recognised as an anxiety disorder. It's up to you whether you seek treatment, such as CBT, for it, but it sounds as though you've learnt to manage it to an extent. Many people live with personality and anxiety disorders, but unless they have a severe impact on daily life, they're usually not treated.

I wrote at he beginning of the thread that I was a bit concerned that people who don't know much about mental health might come to the conclusion that there is a rational cause for mental health issues and they can be "sorted" by therapy or medication. Unfortunately, it isn't like that, so I think I can see where annie is coming from.

I don't know and I expect nobody on GN knows what other symptoms Harry might have suffered. If he has and wants to keep quiet about them, he has every right to do so. He did mention that depression had affected his work, but didn't give any details, so I suspect there is more behind his depression. If he were to open up now, he would provide gossip for the vulture gossip columnists and I really don't see why he wouldwant to do that.

Riverwalk, bulimia is a mental illness , people die from it

I have explained this before Riverwalk,

Anorexia gets - sympathy, comfort eating which causes obesity gets - little or no sympathy, these people are gluttons, lazy etc. Yet both are mental illnesses

A person with OCD who cannot stop cleaning gets - understanding, a person with OCD who clutters, doesn't clean, lives in squalor gets - who would want to live near her/him, both are mental illnesses.

Like many people I have 'issues' but have never seen them as Mental Health illnesses, as they don't have too much impact on my day to day life, rather I suspect like Diana's issues.

For example, I'm severely claustrophobic to the extent that I have to carefully choose where to sit when booking theatre tickets; break out in a sweat at the thought of being shut in the boot of a car; never lock the door in a public loo, etc.

However, I view these problems of mine as psychological issues, not a mental heath illness. Diana was bulimic for a short time, so we've been told, and was underweight but as far as I can see, from a distance, she was a fully-functioning 36 year-old with all the up and downs of the rest of us.

Thanks for that POGS. It's good to know what William, Harry and Catherine have already been supporting.

I hope it does at least as much good in the long run as the Duke of Edinburgh's scheme and the Prince's Trust have.

Annie for the second and last time - what's 'clean' in relation to mental health?

Back to Harry, William and Kate.

Good luck to ALL the runners in tomorrows London Marathon from ' HEADS TOGETHER ' the charity Harry, William and Kate have been promoting and are Patrons of that has caused 'SOME' posters to chastise.

www.headstogether.org.uk/partners/charity-partners/

"Through their work with young people, emergency response, homeless charities, and with veterans, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry have seen time and time again that unresolved mental health problems lie at the heart of some of our greatest social challenges.

The Heads Together campaign aims to help change the national conversation on mental health with a team of charity partners working on a wide range of mental health issues that are close to the The Duke and Duchess and Prince Harry’s passions.

Heads Together brings together inspiring charities with decades of experience in tackling stigma, raising awareness, and providing vital help for people with mental health challenges." :-

Anna Freud Centre

The Anna Freud Centre has been developing and delivering pioneering mental health care for over 60 years. They are leading the way by campaigning for and creating mental health services built around the needs and experiences of children, young people and their families, and not around the institutions who deliver them.

Best Beginnings

Best Beginnings works to give every child in the UK the best start in life. Supporting the mental health of pregnant women and new mothers has a direct and long lasting impact on women and also on their children's lives. This is why the charity is committed to help parents build their knowledge and resilience and also to have to confidence to seek help as soon as they need it.

CALM

Suicide is the single biggest cause of death in men aged under 45 in the UK. The Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) is a national charity dedicated to preventing male suicide by helping men who are down or in crisis, promoting culture change so that any man considering suicide feels able to seek help and campaigning for better understanding of suicide and prevention.

CONTACT

Contact is a collaboration of leading military charities, support organisations, the NHS, the Ministry of Defence, UK Psychological Trauma Society and top academics working together to make the most effective mental health support easily accessible to Service Personnel, Ex-Service Personnel and their families.

MIND

No one should have to face a mental health problem alone. Mind supports millions of people every year through our helpline, information services and online communities. Mind also have a network of local Minds providing face-to-face services tailored to communities across England and Wales.

Place2Be

Place2Be provides in-school support to improve the emotional wellbeing of pupils, families and school staff, and expert training for professionals working with children. The charity helps children cope with emotional challenges so they can have brighter futures.

In fact good luck to ALL those running for charity tomorrow.

Why envoursge people to talk of mental illness but only some forms of mental illness

Princes William and Harry obviously loved their mother very much. They are now opening up about the pain they suffered when she died in the hope it will help others dealing with depression and other mental issues. Why on earth should we expect them to reveal more?

Not expected of you personally riverwalk, just expected from many of the public

Posting an opinion on GN is now dictating?

There is a difference between mental illness and emotional issues. I would have thought you knew that, so I'm surprised by your dismissive comment.

It's not up to you to dictate what William and Harry talk about it. If they were to talk about their mother, they would no doubt have to talk about their father, their grandparents and plenty of people who are still alive.

Maybe they will talk about Diana one day, when they're psychologically ready to do so or maybe they just want to keep it to a close circle. They were still young when she died and almost certainly don't have the same perspective as others. Whatever they want, it's nobody else's business but theirs.

I'm doing no such thing as dismissing mental illness, and why is this expected of me?

What's this 'clean' business?