Dr Hilary Reacts to Meghan Markle's Mental Health Struggles | Good Morning Britain

it emerged in this interview meghan markle said that she had suicidal thoughts felt very lonely in the palace felt suicidal and that she went to a senior member of the royal household and she told them about how she was feeling and they told her she couldn't get any help because it would be a bad look now when we talked about this yesterday i said as an all-encompassing thing i don't believe what meghan markle is saying generally in this interview and i still have serious concerns about the veracity of a lot of what she said but let me just state for the record about my position on mental illness right and on suicide on mental illness and suicide these are clearly extremely serious things that should be taken extremely seriously and if somebody is feeling that way they should get the treatment and the help that they need every time and if they belong to an institution like the royal family and they go and seek that help they should absolutely be given it and if it turns out meghan markle and i'm not it's not for me to question whether she felt suicidal i wasn't in her mind and that's for her to say if she my real concern was a disbelief frankly and i'm prepared to be proven wrong on this and if i'm wrong it is a scandal that she went to a senior member of the royal household told them she was suicidal and was told she could not have any help because it would be a bad look for the family if that is a that person if they're still there should be fired and b the royal family have serious questions to be answered about how they handled it but i would also throw in the mix that prince harry himself is belongs to the top of several mental health charities it does raise the question to me he sought help himself he's talked about that openly why could he not in that eventuality have gone and got megan the help that she needed maybe via the charities that he represents sure right so i've been listening to everything that's gone on this morning and and what's clear what i hear is how once again we're reminded how strong emotions can change perspectives on things can blow things out of proportion and the royal family take away the fact that it's royal family take away the fact that it's monarchy this isn't a family this is a family of grandparents of parents grandchildren siblings all of whom have gone through quite a lot of mental uh issues in the past we have a man who lost his his mother at a tender age in tragic circumstances and was raised by surrogate mothers who might not have had the skills to be as good as his own mother would have been we've got a woman of mixed ethnicity who was previously married who's expressed suicidal thoughts and can't apparently get the help that she needs we've got grandparents who perhaps are distant because of the role that they play we've got siblings who are at a different stage in the hierarchy and perhaps seen as more important so other family ordinary families can identify with all of these issues they are they are no different just because they're royals they're no different to anybody else except that in this situation she was told that it was an issue that it would not be a good look but that's you know terrible but the royal family i think the royal family have it uncle look i have some reasons that come to them right they have a role there is a royal doctor there there are plenty there's plenty of help available i can't believe that she was stopped from going to see somebody who could counsel her talk through her issues um and and what's necessary believe it you mean it's it is extraordinary that the family or the courtier stopped her well you're assuming it happened yeah absolutely because two people who were damaged come together it reinforces the problems they support each other they they build a wall around themselves against everybody else it amplifies the problem and so does being royal it amplifies the problem just like shakespeare and all his plays talked about human emotions but dressed it up around monaco harrison but harry said that he said he didn't feel he could speak out about it because of the stigma that was his version of this he didn't talk about her being rejected or not being able to have any help and i'm just curious about the dynamic there where harry represents mental health charities his wife says she was feeling suicidal why why would he not take her to get the help well what does she need whatever whether her criticisms are justified or not it was real for her she she felt that she could not approach anybody um in total confidence without the press getting hold of it and talk about the issues that were inside her heart she didn't feel that she could do that um you know whether you but whether we believe her or not it doesn't matter it was real for her and to express the fact that she had suicidal thoughts and was prevented from getting help from that you know it it it is extraordinary to hear that yeah um and that's the bit i find hard to believe i find it hard to believe that a senior member of the royal family bearing in mind they've been very welcoming to megan and megan herself is on record of saying that they were very welcoming collectively i don't know what's in it for think they tried to them each other and in doing so they walled everybody else off you know we hear how tenderly he looked after her he held her hand he cradled her they they probably cried in each other's arms they probably felt very marginalized very isolated and going to a third party probably didn't seem you know within possibility it didn't seem realistic for them so because because they were together it amplified themselves it amplified the problem and it and it was a barrier against everybody else so the family became even more remote the family became even more distance and and it reinforces emotions it makes it worse look the message and actually what was needed was conciliation i think oprah was a really good interviewee because she listened she gave them the opportunity to talk without being judgmental the absolutely key thing as you as a medic would agree is that if someone is expressing those thoughts you instantly access help absolutely you take it serious reasons you never assume it's a cry for help absolutely but i'm talking about within whoever this person was who said you know because there were two reasons even that it wouldn't be a good look and also that she wasn't a paid uh employee that they couldn't help her i mean it that doesn't matter does it anybody who expresses those thoughts must be given access to help immediately and you can you can only reconcile these problems through conciliation through communication and clearly there was an inability to communicate with the very people with whom they wanted to to build bridges and make bonds

Channel: Good Morning Britain

Views: 2,145,765

Keywords: good morning britain, breakfast show, news, morning news, gmb, good morning britain interview, itv, piers morgan, susanna reid, Talk Shows - Topic

Id: df_L4KvTOtY

Length: 7min 13sec (433 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 09 2021