Prince Harry and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have banded together with many other celebrities to help break the stigma of mental health.
‘Heads Together’ is a mental health campaign consisting of eight mental health charities including Mind and Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM). Celebrities like Professor Green (Rapper) and Ruby Wax (Comedian) joined Alastair Campbell (Tony Blair’s former director of communications), in making a short film expressing their experience with mental illness. They hope that producing these films will show how “simple conversations can change the direction of an entire life”.
‘Heads Together’ aims to help encourage more individuals to discuss subjects like depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts more openly. The reason for this is that “attitudes to mental health are at a tipping point.” The Royals are collectively trying to use their high profile to convince the public that “shattering stigma on mental health starts with simple conversations”.
This campaign also aided in exploring the public’s perception of mental health by having the Royals release the largest ever survey, conducted by YouGov, on the public’s attitude to mental health. This survey found that almost half the population had a conversation about mental health in the last three months. It also discovered that women are more likely to talk about mental health than men. Furthermore, it stated that young adults are almost twice as likely as people aged over 65 to discuss mental health.
‘Heads Together’ currently have many ways for individuals to get involved with their campaign. These include marathon challenges, volunteering with one of their charity partners or by simply sharing their video. This can help create millions of conversations to change how we talk about mental health and end stigma once and for all. Thus, showing that when we get our ‘Heads Together’, we can achieve great things.