The problem with Prince Harry’s mental health drive
The Duke confuses mental health and mental illness
Has Prince Harry ever had a thought and not made it public? Are there feelings or emotions he has experienced but kept to himself? The latest episode of The Me You Can’t See, the Duke’s documentary series exploring mental health and emotional well-being, aired this week. Loyal viewers were rewarded with a bonus ‘town hall conversation’ show in which Harry and his co-host and producer, Oprah Winfrey, were reunited with advisors and participants from the series.
The premise of the programmes, drummed home once again in the town hall special, is that having ‘a me we can’t see’ is bad for our mental health. Full emotional disclosure is open, honest, liberating, brave and true. Keeping our feelings to ourselves, on the other hand, is dishonest, repressed, unhealthy and, most likely, dangerous. If this is the Prince’s guiding philosophy, he certainly walks the talk. We are all by now familiar with Harry’s unresolved grief, his ‘genetic pain’ and his youthful ‘self-medicating’ with alcohol, as well as every twist and turn of his decision to break away from the Royal Family and start a new life in California.