The Duchess of Sussex has opened up about her struggles with mental health and suicidal thoughts as she launches a child online safety initiative with her husband.
Meghan, who revealed in an interview with Oprah Winfrey three years ago that she had considered suicide while working as a working member of the royal family, said she hoped speaking out would help others.
“I believe that no matter what level of pain or trauma we’ve experienced, part of our healing journey, and particularly in my case, part of the healing journey is being able to really talk openly about it,” she said Sunday. In a joint interview with Prince Harry on CBS television in the US.
“And, you know, I’ve only scratched the surface of my experience, but I don’t want anyone else to feel that way. And I don’t want anyone else to make plans like that. And I definitely don’t want anyone else to not be believed.
“So if speaking out about what I’ve been through can help someone, or inspire someone in their life to truly care about them from the bottom of their heart and not just assume they’re OK because they look good on the outside, then that will be worth it. I’m willing to take the hit for that.”
The 43-year-old duchess said the couple are parents to five-year-old Prince Archie and three-year-old Princess Lilibeth. Parent Network, In partnership with the Archewell Foundation, we provide an online community and resources to combat the harms of social media. The No Child Lost to Social Media campaign was launched following a two-year pilot program with families whose children have experienced the harmful effects of social media.
Prince Harry said the grief these families have experienced could happen to anyone: “People often say that in the old days, if your child was under your own roof, you knew what they were doing. At least they were safe, right? But now they could be in the next room on a tablet or a phone and they could go down the rabbit hole, and before you know it, within 24 hours they could be killing themselves.”
During her 2021 interview with Winfrey, Meghan told the talk show host, “I was really embarrassed to say it at the time and especially embarrassed to admit it to Harry, because I know how much loss he’s experienced. But I knew that if I didn’t say it, I would have done it… I didn’t want to be alive anymore. It was a palpable, real, terrifying, constant thought.”
Speaking to CBS on Parents Network on Sunday, she said: “I think you have to start somewhere – looking at it through the lens of, ‘What if it was my daughter? What if it was my son?’ How could my son or daughter come home and be joyful and loving and then one day, under my nose, our whole life changes because of something completely outside of our control?” For parents, she said, the only way to look at a problem is to try to find a solution.
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