Meghan Markle spoke out about mental illness, bullying, and being trolled.
The podcast Meghan and Harry spoke on was Teenager Therapy. The podcast focuses on ‘five stressed, sleep deprived, yet energetic teens sit down and talk about the struggles that come with being a teenager’.
The couple talked about the stigma surrounding the topic and ‘how we can all contribute to a healthier world: physically, mentally, emotionally and holistically’ with high school students from their Santa Barbara villa.
Relating to dealing with pressures that can result in mental health, Meghan said, ‘I can speak personally because I’m told that in 2019 I was the most trolled person in the entire world – male or female.
She continued, ‘That’s so big you can’t even think about what that feels like because I don’t care if you’re 15 or 25 if people are saying things about you that aren’t true what that does to your mental and emotional health is so damaging.
‘And so I think from my standpoint, and part of the work that we do from our own personal experience, being able to talk to people and understand that even though our experience is unique to us – and obviously can seem very different to what people experience on the day-to-day – its still a human experience and that’s universal.
‘We all know what it feels like to have our feelings hurt, we all know what it feels like to be isolated or ‘othered’… we are all figuring it out.’
Harry added: ‘The unique part of our work is whatever you’re going through and whatever other people are going through, it’s all relative to that environment that they’re in.
‘For the majority of people I’ve spoken to in London, or in the UK, have been stuck in high-rise blocks of flats, unable to see any open grass or open green space.
‘We’ve felt incredibly grateful and fortunate to be able to have outdoor space where our son can walk his first steps. Outdoor space where he can just have enough space to run and move around. It’s a huge blessing.
‘It reminds me of how many people are stacked on top of each other and have been for month after month after month after month, and what that must do to people’s mental health.’
The couple also stated, ‘I think putting your self-care as a priority is hugely important, because vulnerability is not a weakness, showing vulnerability in today’s world especially, is a strength.
‘We could certainly see that more from some of those global leaders, because we got ourselves into this very deep hole which we need to come out of.’
Harry added, ‘The more we talk about it the more it becomes normal, and it is normal, and it’s not a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of strength.’
He also praised the teenagers for being open and discussing mental health issues.
