The Duchess of Cambridge went to family therapy to support her brother, James
In a new interview with The Telegraph, James Middleton opened up about his struggles with depression and his personal road to recovery.
His entire family - including the Duchess of Cambridge - took part in family therapy sessions with him to show their support.
James Middleton has opened up about his struggles with depression—and how his sister, the Duchess of Cambridge, dropped everything to help with his recovery.
In a new interview with The Telegraph, James described his personal battle with depression, which he, like many people, kept to himself for a long time. When James realised he needed help, however, he went to a private psychiatric hospital, where he voiced the fact that he was dealing with suicidal thoughts for the first time.
"I remember thinking, 'I might have to answer this one truthfully, because I want them to help me,'" he explained of confronting the doctor's questions about suicidal ideation. "So I said, 'Well, actually, yes, but I don’t think I’ll ever action it.' In my report it said I had suicidal thoughts but wasn’t a threat to myself."
Once James reached out and made a point to be honest about what he was going through, his journey to recovery (which included nearly a year of cognitive behavioural therapy) could begin.
"Before I started it I was completely lost," he said, describing therapy as like, "sitting in a chair with a ball of wool made up of eight different colours, and then a therapist is sitting opposite you with a needle untangling it. When we started mapping everything out, and it was on a page, it was absolute chaos."
James didn't have to tackle the recovery process alone though. His entire family—including his royal sister—joined him in family therapy sessions to support him.
"All of them," he said, confirming that Kate took part in the therapy process with him. "Not necessarily at the same time, but either individually and [sometimes] together. And that was so important because that helped them understand me and how my mind was working. And I think the way the therapy helped me was that I didn’t need my family to say, 'What can we do?' The only thing they could do was just come to some of the therapy sessions to start to understand."
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