Prince Harry Teams Up With Ministry Of Defence To Promote Mental Health

Prince Harry is doing his part in promoting various mental health strategies among the members of the Armed Forces.

While speaking at the Ministry of Defence, the 33-year-old said that employing various mental health strategies could help create a “more confident, focused and ultimately more combat-ready military.”

The prince, who served in the army for 10 years, will also be teaming up with Prince William and Kate Middleton after they announced the partnership between the Ministry of Defence and the Royal Foundation, according to the Guardian.

Talking about the members of the armed forces, Prince Harry said, “Quite simply, these men and women are prized assets which need to be continually invested in. We surely have to think of them as high-performance athletes, carrying all their kit, equipment and a rifle. Crucially, fighting fitness is not just about physical fitness. It is just as much about mental fitness too.”

Prince Harry also wants to prevent members of the armed forces from developing various types of mental illnesses such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and anxiety. When these illnesses are avoided and prevented, the prince believes that the military men will be able to give 20 to 30 percent more service to the people.

Last week, Prince William, Middleton and Prince Harry donated $2.7 million to back a digital initiative that give the members of the public tools to find help and information about mental health and illnesses.

According to People, experts revealed that more people have spoken openly about their mental health following the London Marathon and Prince Harry’s interview about his own mental health.

However, Prince William acknowledged the fact that there’s still a lot that needs to be done since three quarters of the recorded suicides in the United Kingdom are of men.

“That’s still a worrying statistic though, it really is. At the beginning, we were trying to understand why at home people weren’t sharing some of their problems. If we've at ’east made a big impression there we can work on the wider societal problems. But I think it all starts at home. If you can’t have a conversation with your loved ones, there’s no way you’re going to go to HR at work,” he said.