The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry are spearheading the powerful mental health campaign; #HeadsTogether. An incredibly positive campaign and a tremendous step forward toward scratching the surface of a topic that has been buried for so long. There is such a stigma around mental health and to have three prominent, inspiring public figures start the conversation, raise awareness and be so genuinely open about it really raises public consciousness to the next level and opens up a new chapter where it is okay to talk about it, it’s okay to admit struggle and really highlights the importance of working together in supporting one another.
In an official statement on their website: headstogether.org.uk the trio have said: Too often, people feel afraid to admit that they are struggling with their mental health. This fear of prejudice and judgement stops people from getting help and can destroy families and end lives. Heads Together wants to help people feel much more comfortable with their everyday mental wellbeing and have the practical tools to support their friends and family.
This is a topic I am extremely passionate about. Mental health needs to be spoken about more, you need to know that it is okay to talk about what’s going on inside your head and it simply comes down to the importance of having a conversation, being brave enough to start that conversation and knowing that it really is okay. I see it everyday, all around me – with family, friends, strangers. Some of the most successful, charismatic, ‘put together’ people are struggling on the inside. Mental health aren’t two dirty words and they actually act as a significantly large umbrella under which so many issues fall under, so many that are so common within the majority of our population including anxiety, OCD and depression and it is an underlying theme across so many areas and all walks of life. And as expressed in the statement by the Royals, there is so much fear (both self-inflicted and externally imposed) surrounding the topic and a lot of that boils down to societal ‘norms’ and generation after generation of burying the topic and making it a little taboo rather than opening up the lines of communication.
The thing is, we’re taught so many wonderful things at school which of course put us in good stead for life, I’ll be the first to admit that – school education is obviously so important, but as it stands, is school education complete and really all encompassing? I’m afraid the answer is no. When it comes to ‘health’, we’re taught about fitness, and to some extent food, and how to take care of our bodies…. however, we’re not taught about how to take care of our minds and deal with whatever is going on inside our heads. Which makes this campaign even more powerful as it is increasing awareness and reducing the horrid stigma that currently accompanies mental health and hopefully bringing awareness to educators that this is something that needs to be introduced from a young age. It is important that we are all aware; individually for you to be aware of what is going on inside your own mind and know that it is okay to talk about it and on the flip side, as the outsider, to talk to your loved ones and make sure that anyone that may be suffering with mental health issues knows they have a safe space to express themselves, there is so much power in a single conversation and sometimes that can help more than you think.
Watch this beautiful, stripped back conversation below and allow it to fuel the braveness you have within you and continue a conversation that really matters…