Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been very much in the news because of their desire to split from the duties of the royal family, and subsequently, how this incident has affected them. In particular, Prince Harry had to carry a lot of weight on his shoulders, after all, he is the one who has the history involving kings and queens – and princes and princesses.
But Prince Harry has been known to deal with lots of difficult situations. He once said he had”shut down all his emotions” for almost two decades after the death of his mother, Princess Diana. When he was 28 years old, during a period of time when he felt “very close to a complete breakdown” and faced anxiety during royal engagements, that he sought out the advise of a therapist to address his grief.
In 2014, he told the Hollywood Reporter “I didn’t know why I didn’t want to do anything. I had never experienced anything like that.” And Prince Harry is not the only one. Despite the prevalence of mental health conditions, it’s difficult for most people to open up and share feelings of doubt, anxiety, and other mental maladies. Thankfully, in recent years, it has become more acceptable to do so, even if you are a famous celebrity.
In fact, when public figures open up about their own mental health struggles, it can help break inspire other people to seek treatment.
The prince admitted to years of attacks both of panic and rage, and said that his life was in “total chaos” for two years. He has admitted being “very close to total breakdown on numerous occasions when all sorts of grief and lies and misconceptions are coming to you from every angle.” He had completely blocked his emotions for years, a kind of ostrich policy that resulted in severe psychological effects.
He once said” I don’t know how any of us stay sane.”
Most of his struggles can be traced back to his suffering after the tragic death of Lady Diana in 1997. “I can safely say that losing my mum at the age of 12, and therefore shutting down all of my emotions for the last 20 years, has had a quite serious effect on not only my personal life but my work as well.”
In his 20’s, Harry sort of overcompensated for these feeling and went about town known as “Crazy Harry,” getting wild and drunk at parties, smoking pot, and wearing ridiculous costumes while out in public. The excessive drinking at pot is what most mental health professionals would refer to as “self-medicating.”
When Harry opened up to therapists about the loss of his mother and his inner anger, things began to change. He was able to release a lot of bottled up emotions. Just as Princess Diana revealed a lot her own personal trauma, from her troubled marriage to difficulties getting along with the royal family, Prince Harry wishes to encourage people with mental issues – even if it only manifests as a general anxiety – to open up and seek professional help. There will always be ups and downs, but for now at least, Prince Harry is on the up and up.
