Prince Harry met with young Singaporeans and urged them not to shy away from talking about mental health.
“I think with social media, the Internet and everything else, a lot of false realities are thrown down young people’s throats”, making them think that everybody’s life is perfect, he told a group of six youth mentors at a closed-door session at the British Ambassador’s Nassim Road residence.
The youth mentors have themselves suffered from mental health issues and have recovered enough to be able to support others in similar situations.
Some of them are peer support specialists with the Community Health Assessment Team (Chat), a youth mental health and outreach assessment service.
Noting that people tend to be averse to talking about mental health issues, Prince Harry, 32, urged young people here to speak out. “You have to talk about your mental health in order to be mentally fit and, therefore, happy and healthy for the rest of your life.”
Last year, he co-launched the Heads Together campaign in Britain to end the stigma surrounding mental health.
During Sunday’s session, Prince Harry also encouraged the group to create platforms and foundations to broach the topic with friends.
He said: “It’s important for guys like you to bang the drum and encourage others. If you can just help one person not have to go through what you went through and suffer in silence, then you’ve saved a life.”
Watch the video below for the interview.
Read more here.
Source: The Straits Times, 7 June 2017