Rae Ritchieexamineshow the young royals are contributing to conversations around mental health andasks if other contributions are being overlooked …
The first part of BBC1’s documentary ‘Mind Over Marathon’aired last Thursday.
It explored the stories of novice London Marathon runners,all of whom had experienced mental health issues.
The second part airs this week, following up on how they didduring the 26 mile race and after.
The programme both builds upon and contributes to the recentincrease in public discussion of mental health, specifically the ‘HeadsTogether’ campaign fronted by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge along withPrince Harry, all of whom appear in the first episode.
The public response has been supportive, reflectingwidespread concern about mental health even if this is not matched by a similarlevel of knowledge about the issues involved.
‘It was very good’, people have told me, ‘Did you seeit?’ My response – ‘I was out for a meal;I’ll try to catch up with it’ – is the truth but also a diplomatic avoidancetactic.
I’m nervous about watching the show, especially while thereis still so much hype surrounding it, as, judging from the TV trailers, it willadd to my existing concerns about recent mental health discourse in the media.
In particular, I object to the hagiographic tone in which newsand other commentary present the contribution of the young royals to thiscause.
Like anyone who speaks out on this subject, they are brave,particularly Prince Harry who has shared so personally about hisexperiences. However it is important tonot overstate the case.
If we genuinely are witnessing a sea-change in attitudes(and this remains to be seen) then William, Kate and Harry are arguably ridingthe wave of this trend as much as they are generating it.
Many other public figures having laid the groundwork, fromStephen Fry and Ruby Wax to Bryony Gordon and the late, great Sally Brampton.
The latter was warnedby some that her mental health ‘confession’ in The Daily Telegraph was tantamount to professional suicide. Instead, she forged a new phase in herillustrious journalism career by supporting others with mental health issuesvia her writing.
Perhaps the royals, due to their uniquely high profileposition, are able to raise awareness more broadly than previous pioneers inthis field. Of course this contributionis welcome; any opportunity to create greater openness about mental health iswelcome.
Yet, unless this is the next publicity event, the Windsors won’tbe answering the phone when someone in crisis rings the Mind or Samaritanshelpline. Undoubtedly there are going tobe a few new units named after one or all of them, but they aren’t the onesfunding hospital care or other institutional support. They are not administering the meds orrunning the sessions or photocopying the worksheets.
As a society we are so quick to hail members of our eliteswho rightly use their status for good as heroes while at the same timeneglecting, or at worst devaluing, those who do the so-called ordinarywork.
So I ask, who are our real mental health heroes?
