Catherine, William + Harry | Heads Together | #oktosay

why heads together and why mental health is your idea it was your idea it's a Common Thread wasn't it mental health s have seemed to run between all the different areas that we were working in so whether it's homelessness and the military with yourself and addiction with me bereavement there's a sort of underlying thread wasn't there of mental health and this idea that there all of us coming together to find a common theme and to show people how to have those what we're calling sort of simple conversations and starting those conversations which is often the hardest bit really as you said it's like a almost like a form of form of medicine yeah but as a young mother actually said that to me at the anaphor center she said actually just talking to somebody having those conversations is like medicine for her and that is the point is that actually it's okay to have that conversation even if it is uncomfortable or awkward but it's just starting it but the pressures on children nowadays I think more than they ever were for us as well I think each generation can say that you've got so many things to worry about now whether you're struggling for exams whether you're struggling with home life whether you're struggling with friends then you have the social media angle you can understand why you know that coupled with the fact you don't get out the house cuz you're staring at a screen the whole time there's got to be a lot of issues that are going to build from that if you're not careful and it's always sold as though everybody else's life is perfect that's the problem and therefore you think if that you know everyone else's life is perfect there must be something wrong with me you know if you can have a family environment where you can talk openly about your issues that makes for a better family better preparation probably working better at the job doing better at school every you know so it just goes on and on on because you often speak don't you about the emotional changes that sort of even you've gone through and I think a lot of parents hopefully can I suppose identify with that in that you know having a child particular your first child is such a sort of life-changing moment nothing can really prepare you for that remember the first few days with little George you know you have no idea really what you're doing no matter how many books you read nothing can prepare for it there's no rule book there's no training that teaches you how to do it you just have to learn from previous generations and hope that you can translate it into what you know what you want to do you remember up friend angu so had had a Yeah couple of weeks of sort of family support and then you ke to get back to to your work and I was like no I'll come with you course yeah so we scooted off back to Angley with George those first few weeks you know were steeping curve steeping curve massively when you have children it really does put your own emotions in your own life perspective and it's been very very interesting understanding you know why I get so upset about some things or why some things affect me you know I thought I was quite you know fairly sort of straight down the line but I'm actually quite U you know I feel quite a lot more than I used to do you feel that particularly with the work that with um the ambulance youth yeah I I feel like I take on a lot of the family cases with me take them home which I find quite hard um and luckily we've got good sport Network at work and just talking about it amongst all of us and being able to you know understand the process and and and hear you know good news and bad news but but follow some of these cases through to to the end is quite important and it's not just the individual is it it has such an effect such an effect on the rest of the family precisely family friends everyone that cares about you so youve got that one individual in the middle and then no one really especially with the the veterans piece as well all the focus always seems to be on the individual with the injuries exactly um if it's physical injuries then it's supposedly easier because you can see those injuries where if it's hidden wounds then no one can see that but still that person is the focus but the effect that that has on them their family and their friends is huge because people care about you but that is part of the healing process and it's part of sharing your problems to Har them and to make them better with someone you trust and someone you know is going to help you yeah both of us have always been open to each other saying you know we've we've never we've never really talked about it we' never really talked about um losing a mom at such a young age and when you speak to other people's families and little kids and stuff you think wow you know I don't want them to have to go through the same thing so you you want to with with a little bit of experience you want to help as much as you can and try and Empower them to have that conversation to be brave enough for themselves to talk about it at a young age rather than bottling it up for for far too long considering everything that you boys obviously sadly went through and the trauma that you experienced you know I do particularly with the work within early intervention and things like that that I've been doing in the early years I do think it's incredible how strong and how you've been able to to cope really and I put that down to your really early years childhood experience but also the relationship that you've got you're amazingly close and yes you know no but it's you know and some families sadly aren't as lucky as as you guys have been and being able to share things but we have been brought closer because of the circumstances as well that's the thing you know you are you know uniquely um bonded because of what we've been through but you know even har and I over the years have not talked enough about you know our mother you know we never enough doing this campaign sort of made you realize that to yeah I I I think so I always thought to myself you know what's the point of bringing out the past what's the point of bringing out something that's only going to make you sad it ain't going to change it it ain't going to bring her back and when you start thinking like that it can be really damaging and you always said to me you said you know you've got to sit down and think about those memories but for me it was like don't want to think about it yeah but it's I think what must was happen with us and must happen with others as well is it you have to prioritize you know prioritize your mental health you have to say to yourself um at some point cuz it's very easy to run away from it you know to walk away from it and avoid it the whole time you know someone has to take the lead and has to be brave enough to to force that conversation this coming Sunday the London marathon is is the is is to some people a year a year in in the making I mean this is their this is their opportunity to put closure on on an issue this is their opportunity to be part of something amazing and and it's just really it's really exciting for all of us to be part of it I think 30 odd th000 people coming together you know 300 now 700 Runners for specific heads together every everybody in the marathon being given a headband people running for just all sorts of different reasons but as you've as you guys have clearly pointed out over and over again you could draw 150 Charities everybody's running for around in a circle and in the middle will be mental health it's the one thing that binds everything together together and so many of the runners that we we've met have been so energized haven't they by others having sort of these conversations around them but also feeling like they're part of this change and and this sort of progression towards sort of ASM more open Society ready mental health Marathon

Channel: Heads Together

Views: 711,258

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Id: 45RqUmxDXiY

Length: 6min 45sec (405 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 21 2017