Prince William has called for more "male role models" to openly discuss mental health, saying men need to normalize conversations about their emotions and wellbeing. The Prince of Wales made the appeal during an hour-long panel discussion on BBC Radio 1's Life Hacks, which focused on men's mental health and suicide prevention.
Speaking on the programme, Prince William emphasized the importance of understanding one's own feelings. «Part of feeling comfortable talking about mental health is understanding it and if you've got guys who have really gone about trying to really learn about what feelings are, why we feel like we do, what can we do about it, that's part of the conversation, too,» he said. The prince stressed: «We need more male role models out there talking about it and normalising it so that it becomes something that is second nature to all of us.»
Prince William encouraged men to seek support rather than trying to handle everything alone. «Not one person in this world has all the tools for every eventuality or mental state that is going to come across,» he explained. He compared mental health support to collecting tools: «I like to go around looking for new tools to put in my toolbox when I might need it and if we look at it like that, it does normalise the idea that the brain just needs sometimes a little bit of help. But we can't expect to have all the answers ourselves.»
The prince added that asking for help should become normal: «It's OK to ask for support, ask a mate, reach out. That becomes just the normalisation process of what's going on inside your head.» He also urged men to «be kind to yourself», saying: «It is really important and to learn to love yourself and understand yourself.»
Personal reflection
Prince William shared his own approach to emotional wellbeing. «I take a long time trying to understand my emotions and why I feel like I do. And I think that's a really important process to just do every now and again to check in with yourself and work out why you're feeling like you do. Sometimes there's an obvious explanation, sometimes there isn't,» he said.
On suicide prevention, he stressed the temporary nature of mental health crises. «I think that idea that mental health crisis is temporary, like you can have a really strong mental health crisis moment, but it will pass,» Prince William said. He added: «If we talk about that more and educate people more, then hopefully the idea of suicide gets keeps being pushed further and further away because you know that tomorrow actually you might wake up and you might feel very different.»
The panel discussion, hosted by radio presenter Greg James, included rapper Professor Green, grime artist Guvna B, Allan Brownrigg from James' Place charity, and young carer Nathan. James said the conversation was designed to help without being «too heavy»: «It's a conversation that I hope will enlighten lots of people, comfort lots of people as well.»
Note: This article was created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
