Duchess Of Cambridge Starts Role As Guest Editor, Tackles Mental Health Stigma
The Duchess of Cambridge has started her role as Guest Editor of Huffington Post [Photo: Instagram/Kensington Royal]
The Duchess of Cambridge has spoken out about breaking the ‘taboo’ surrounding mental illness in children as she becomes Guest Editor of Huffington Post for the day.
In a heartfelt post, Kate wrote about the importance of breaking down the stigmas surrounding mental health explaining that for too long parents have been too ‘embarrassed’ to admit that their children need emotional and psychiatric help.
Her comments come in a blog to mark the launch of an editorial series called Young Minds Matter, which discusses the issues surrounding children and mental health and that Kate hopes might help change perceptions by bringing the subject to the forefront.
Kate hopes her role will help raise awareness about mental health in children [Photo: Rex Features]
Explaining that mental health is every bit as important as physical health in children, Kate revealed that as a parent she and William “would not hesitate” to seek help if their children, two-year-old George and nine-month-old Charlotte, needed it.
She wrote: “We hope to encourage George and Charlotte to speak about their feelings, and to give them the tools and sensitivity to be supportive peers to their friends as they get older. We know there is no shame in a young child struggling with their emotions or suffering from a mental illness.”
Revealing that research published today indicates that a third of parents still worry that they will look like a bad mother or father if their child has a mental health problem, Kate called for this to change.
“Parenting is hard enough without letting prejudices stop us from asking for the help we need for ourselves and our children,” she said.
Kate hopes to use her experience of working with mental health charities to breakdown stigmas [Photo: Rex Features]
The 34-year-old, who first started campaigning about mental health after she got married, explained that her role as Patron of a number of different charities, including Place2Be and Action on Addiction has helped her to see that many problems in adulthood stem from unresolved childhood issues.
“I often heard some heart-breaking stories about lives that had been torn apart, with devastating impacts for all involved, particularly children,” Kate wrote.
“What I did not expect was to see that time and time again, the issues that led people to addiction and destructive decision making seemed to almost always stem from unresolved childhood challenges,” she added.
And as further proof of her unwavering commitment to the mental health cause, this morning it was announced that the Duchess has also become patron of the Anna Freud Centre, which works to reduce the burden of mental health in children and young people.
The issue of mental health in children is clearly close to her heart [Photo Rex Features]
Kate will carry out her role as guest editor from a temporary newsroom set up at Kensington Palace. But though office based today, the Duchess has already helped to commission a series of articles, blogs and videos from influential figures in the mental health section.
Paying tribute to the “extraordinary people and organisations” that have contributed to the mental health series.
She added: “Together, we have the chance to make a real difference for an entire generation of young children.”
What do you think of Kate’s blog? Let us know @YahooStyleUK.
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