Hail the black dog Prince Harry

The younger royals are forging a lasting legacy by talking about mental health.

Prince Harry has opened up in public about his own depression, stemming from the death of his mother, Diana, and importance of seeking help.

At 32, Prince Harry has finally stepped into the royal spotlight and, what’s more, used it to draw others out of the darkness.

His recent, particularly candid, comments about his previous mental health issues show that, no matter your upbringing, your career, your successes and your failures, depression can come for you at any time.

What matters more is whether you can be open with someone about it and get the help that is there for you.

For an ex-military man, and one from the most royal of families, Harry gave a remarkably unscripted, unshackled interview. Speaking to a journalist as part of the royals’ support for mental health charity Heads Together, the prince revealed for the first time his inner torment over the death of his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1997.

Not only that, but the prince told a story without a conventional start and finish, articulating, in a powerful way, how there is no predictable cause and effect for dep­ression, no standard journey for people to go on.

Harry spoke openly about the inconsistencies of depression so often left unspoken: the long period when he simply wasn’t dealing with his grief, the belated explosion of angst and rage, and how it still took someone else to guide him to safety.

“The experience that I’ve had is once you start talking about it, you suddenly realise that actually you’re part of quite a big club … a real community and everyone is gagging to talk about it,” Prince Harry said in the interview.

Speaking to Bryony Gordon, on The Daily Telegraph journalist’s Mad World podcast, Harry first mocked his long standard response to anyone asking how he was: “I’m fine.” As he demonstrated in the comments that followed, Prince Henry of Wales, fifth in line to the throne, the younger son of Charles, the Prince of Wales, and Diana, was often far from fine.

“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 also my work,” Harry said.

“My way of dealing with it was sticking my head in the sand, refusing to ever think about my mum because ‘why would that help?’ It’s only going to make you sad, it’s not going to bring her back.”

It wasn’t until he was 28, bearing more responsibility in life through his royal duties and his military service, that “all of a sudden all this grief I had never processed started to come to the forefront”.

It appears that, in conversations with friends, and particularly his older brother, Prince William, it emerged that his trauma was not over — it might have been only dormant all those years.

“It was 20 years of not thinking about it and then two years of total chaos,” Harry said.

“I couldn’t put my finger on it, I didn’t know what was wrong with me.’’

In a video released on Friday, William and wife Catherine talk openly with Harry about the importance of discussing mental wellbeing. The video, filmed at Kensington Palace last week, is part of the Heads Together campaign, which aims to end the stigma of mental health. The three young royals have been driving forces behind the campaign since its launch last year.

While the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge opened up on the difficulties of parenting, Harry touched again on the difficulties he faced after his mother’s death: “I always thought to myself, what’s the point of bringing up the past, what’s the point of bringing up something that’s only going to make you sad?” he said. “It ain’t gonna change it, it ain’t gonna bring her back. When you start thinking like that it can be really damaging.”

His brother agreed: “Harry and I, over the years, have not talked enough about our mother,” he said, adding: “It’s very easy to run away from it … to avoid it the whole time.”

Harry originally may have sparked the debate by talking on the first episode of an unknown podcast — even he admitted not listening to podcasts — but his comments have resonated in the days since.

British Prime Minister Theresa May described Harry’s decision to open up as a “really important moment” for Britain. That was after Brexit, and shortly before she called a snap election.

Simon Wessely, president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Britain, said Harry would achieve more good than he had in his 25-year career in psychiatry and make “a huge difference to the way we discuss grief. He has a reach we can only dream of.”

The scruffy redhead had long been somewhat of the black sheep of the royal family, playing the rogue to brother William’s king-in-waiting routine. There were the parties, the girls, the girls at the parties and occasional reports of princely nudity.

But in recent years, including a stint in Afghanistan, Harry has taken on a higher profile, not only supporting William and other members of the royal family but pushing his own causes, such as the Invictus Games for wounded, sick or injured military personnel and veterans.

It is perhaps Harry’s military background that allowed him to come to terms with the concept of being both strong and vulnerable, of living up to society’s expectations of fit young men but still knowing that, on the inside, not everything is right.

“After … the last five, six years of talking with the lads who have left the military, and post-traumatic stress (disorder) specifically, or depression, anxiety, panic attacks and alcoholism, all of that stuff, having those conversations with those guys it became blindingly obvious to me that even if it was a small problem from your youth, something — Afghanistan in a lot of these cases — was the trigger for all these issues to come forward,” Harry said.

“No matter who you are, a conversation has to be the beginning, otherwise how are you ever going to know who to see, where to go and how to solve it?”

Prominent Australians have also played a role in normalising mental health issues. Politicians including Greens senator Scott Ludlam, sports stars such as Sydney Swans player Buddy Franklin and entertainers such as Magda Szubanski have all spoken about their experiences in hope that doing so will help others.

Every day, not so well-known Australians have the same conversations, helping to drown out the ignorance and ridicule that may have been the response to mental illness in the past.

Psychologist Jaelea Skehan is director of the Hunter Institute of Mental Health and a well-regarded leader in the prevention of mental illness and suicide, helping the media, employers and governments drive change. She says prominent people and celebrities can play an important role in breaking down the stigma of mental illness.

“We know that people telling their own personal stories and talking to others through their own experiences can be a very powerful motivator to help break down the stigma and encourage other people to reach out,” Skehan says.

“And we know that celebrities carry gravitas with people, and the celebrity story can help normalise mental health issues and get ­people to have the conversations they need to get help.”

In Australia, it has been estimated that 45 per cent of people will experience a mental health issue in their lifetime. In any one year, about one million Australians will have depression, and more than two million will have anxiety. The challenge is in getting those people diagnosed and on the road to recovery.

Alarmingly, research released by the Black Dog Institute and Mission Australia last week showed more young Australians are in psychological distress than five years ago, with almost one in four young people last year meeting the criteria for probable serious mental illness. New ways of connecting with those in need are being developed and trialled, even if some in the sector worry they aren’t connecting fast enough.

Although awareness has improved, suicide rates have not, or at least not yet. According to Australian Bureau of Statistics figures ­released in September, 3027 Australians died by suicide in 2015, an increase on the previous year and the highest in a decade. Suicide is again the leading cause of death for Australians aged 15 to 44.

Skehan says she hopes Harry’s comments and his work with military personnel and veterans will help change the trad­itional masculine stereotype. She says men often don’t prioritise their own health yet, paradoxic­ally, are willing to “help a mate” whenever needed, and that may be the key to breaking down the barriers. Initiating a conversation with someone who may need it is just as important as someone asking for help.

“While I think people are more aware that people experience mental health issues, more accepting of mental illness being a legitimate illness, and the need for people with mental health issues to get help and support, I think that actually taking that step, or having that conversation, to get health and support can still be a difficult thing for people,” she says.

“What Prince Harry says about talking to his mates, about talking to veterans, about talking to other people, is really powerful. It gives people something they can do to be part of the solution, and at the same time helps the individuals get the help they need.”

That Harry somehow managed to live a young man’s life, with the usual stumbles and setbacks, albeit in the public eye and the tabloid headlines, is only a bonus. Even Skehan admits to being a fan of the once wayward prince.

Of course, addressing the stigma, and convincing people to seek help, are only parts of the puzzle of responding to mental illness. There also need to be suicide prevention strategies, appropriate and accessible health services, supportive workplaces and governments, non-discriminatory insurance policies and much more.

Malcolm Turnbull and Health Minister Greg Hunt — who has spoken about his mother’s mental illness — have promised great change and given the mental health sector high hopes. Last Wednesday, Hunt announced that Medicare-funded mental health packages would be extended to help people in rural and regional areas see a psychologist remotely via videoconferencing.

Every conversation, and every effort to spark a conversation as Harry has done, is vitally important, for individuals and for society.

William told charity publication CALMzine that he and Catherine did not want their children to mask their feelings behind the “stiff upper lip”.

“Catherine and I are clear we want both George and Charlotte to grow up feeling able to talk about their emotions and feelings,” William said, adding to the royal campaign for change.

For Harry, once the royal black sheep but now talking about his royal black dog, these conversations clearly matter. He spoke so quickly, so passionately, in the 30-minute podcast it sounded as if he could talk about it for 30 years. And, for those dealing with mental illness, or yet to be tested by it, having Harry talk about such health issues for 30 years may not be such a bad thing.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re a prince or a mother or a CEO of a company or a wife and driver or a kid, it doesn’t matter who you are: mental health, mental fitness relates to every single one of us and there’s only positives that come out of having a conversation, talking about it,” Harry said.

There is a range of services available for people experiencing personal crisis, including your local GP. If you or someone you know may be at risk of suicide, call Lifeline (13 11 14) or the Suicide Call Back Service (1300 659 467).