by
Sevynn-Lily
My Approach A Mental Health Professional:
Through my work, in the mental health field over the past 4 years with the last 2 spent doing my residency program in psychiatry, I have come to a particular resolution. I made it a point to thoroughly educate my patient and the accompanying support system (parents, siblings, romantic partners for example) on a very pertinent and yet simple fact.
That this patient with a mental health issue was still a person. And that just like I experienced frustration, happiness, anger, sadness, essentially all ranges of emotions, this patient with a mental health issue could and would do the same. You would think no one would doubt that, but I cannot begin to count how many times patients have been dragged to hospital for rightfully reacting angrily to provocation.
You see, many people seem to think that if you have (or have had) a mental health issue, it forever taints the way you respond to things. It is the unfortunate curse that comes with dealing with issues of this nature. There is a reputation that forever precedes you; it is like a heavy coat that try as you might, you struggle to shake off. People who know will look at you through tainted lenses. So when you laugh, you are judged, not as to whether you have reason to laugh, but as to whether your laughter was a decibel higher than it should be. And when you get angry, it isn’t assumed you had reason to be, but rather that you must clearly be relapsing. You must be unstable!
In my early days in the field, I encountered a family that had dragged a patient to casualty for daring to get angry after finding out her boyfriend has cheated. It was this experience that provided the catalyst for my resolve. Because to reduce a person to their depression, their bipolar, their brief period of stress and so on, is extremely demoralizing, demeaning, and dehumanizing. People are complex. It is possible to deal with mental health issues and STILL have a perfectly rational mind in other aspects.
The British media using mental health as an attack:
For those who royal watched for years prior to Meghan’s arrival, you would have been familiar with the difficulties Harry navigated as a young man coming into his own. There was candor as to his struggles with mental health, which he dealt with whilst being repeatedly poked by the British media. Yes, the same media that played a hand that led to his mother’s death and then most recently, begun cruelly targeting his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex.
From the day word broke of their relationship, in late 2016, till this very moment in 2019, Meghan has been subject to every kind of name-calling, accusation, maligning, undermining, sabotaging et cetera. For almost 3 years, she was painted as the wicked witch, and bitter emotions were stirred up amongst those who love to hate her. Not even pregnancy brought respite, and so, even Master Archie became involved in this vile play.
On 1 October 2019: Harry said he’d had enough.
Meghan launched a lawsuit against Mail on Sunday, and a few days after, Harry filed a lawsuit against The Mirror and The Sun, all vehicles of the nastiness veiled as journalism. Any reasonable person, with any shred of humanity, fellow feeling & empathy would laud Harry for standing up to press abuse, racism, and targeted harassment!
Those of us who watched from the sidelines saw how Meghan was maligned day in day out, who worried for her health, safety, mental health, and the health of Archie during her pregnancy, who shed tears and said prayers, celebrated. And those who had no interest in the monarchy but could see how cruelly the media had behaved are showing their support for Harry, Meghan, and Archie.
Not the accused though.
They’ve doubled down.
They would like you to believe that Harry, due to previous mental health difficulties is now acting irrationally.
Is acting emotionally.
Is unthinking.
Classic gaslighting!
Perhaps if they deny enough, if they misdirect enough, if they lie enough, Harry and the public may start to question the validity of these lawsuits. Maybe they can delegitimize what Harry knows to be truth.. Even though others from the very same monarchy have launched legal actions against the same media pack, Harry’s case is surely different! We all know why, but that is a discussion for another day.
Unfortunately for the media, the only fools who will fall for this act, are those desperate to hate Meghan, and by extension have to hate Harry and Archie. Besides, they have already shown that the truth is not something they could be bothered with.
If however you do have thinking ability and are willing to apply it, you will recognize that the step Harry has taken, is that of a man completely sound of mind. A man who patiently gave professional journalists – read gossipers – the opportunity to do their work with integrity. A man who called them to task via a public statement in November 2016 and told them he was watching them. A man who is solidly rooted in himself and his values and a man who has prioritized the safety of his small family above all else.
It is NOT a sign of mental instability to know when your boundaries have been violated.
It is NOT a sign of mental instability to want and demand to be treated decently.
It is NOT a sign of mental instability to hold people accountable for their actions.
So try as they might, no amount of noise will change the truth.
We stand with the Sussexes!