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Meghan Markle has shared the time when her husband Prince Harry found her a therapist ‘at her worst point’.
In the fifth episode of her Spotify podcast, Archetypes, which was released on Tuesday (11 October), the Duchess of Sussex discusses mental health and its depictions in Hollywood.
In the podcast, titled “The Decoding of Crazy”, the mother-of-two delves into the labels ‘crazy’, ‘hysterical’ and ‘nuts’, which she argues are used to ‘diminish women’s credibility’.
After giving a trigger warning at the start of the 55-minute episode for those who might find the content ‘too heavy’, Meghan begins: “Raise your hand if you've ever been called crazy or hysterical, or what about nuts? Insane, out of your mind, completely irrational, okay? You get the point.”
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Meghan adds: "Now, if we were all in the same room and could see each other, I think it would be pretty easy to see just how many of us have our hands up. By the way, me too. And it's no wonder, when you consider just how prevalent these labels are in our culture.”
She goes on to describe how she has also been given the labels ‘crazy’ and ‘hysterical’ – although she does not specify who has done this to her.
Meghan, 41, says the anecdote about her husband finding her a referral to a therapist needs to be shared to ‘be really honest about what it is that you need and to not be afraid to make peace with that to ask for it’.
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Meghan has been open about her own mental health in the past, and during a bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021 she revealed she felt suicidal during her time as a working royal.
She told the US TV host that her mental health battle left her feeling like she ‘didn’t want to be alive anymore’ and said she was never offered support because it ‘wouldn’t be good for the institution’.
In her new podcast episode, the Duchess of Sussex explores the stigma around the word ‘mad’ and how it has a ‘silencing effect’ on those experiencing mental health issues.
Meghan says: “They get scared. They stay quiet, they internalise and they repress for far too long.”
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The former Suits star also includes a selection of quotes from popular US series to decode how the word ‘mad’ is used in the media.
In one example from How I Met Your Mother, Barney (played by Neil Patrick Harris) says: “If she’s this crazy she has to be hot.”
Similarly, a quote from the sitcom Scrubs is included which involves female doctor Elliot (Sarah Chalke) declaring: “I can't take it, Carla! I cannot hide the crazy a minute longer! I'm just this big mountain of cuckoo who's about to erupt and spew molten crazy all over him, and he's gonna die like this.”
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The new episode of Archetypes includes conversations with actresses Deepika Padukone, Jenny Slate and Constance Wu, the latter having recently said she contemplated suicide after a Twitter incident regarding her now-ended sitcom Fresh Off the Boat.
Anyone affected by this story or struggling in any way should call Samaritans for free on 116 123 - or write down your thoughts in an email to [email protected].
If you live in the US and you or someone you know is struggling or in mental health crisis, help is available through Mental
Health America. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org. You can also reach Crisis Text Line by texting MHA to 741741.
Featured Image Credit: PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo newsphoto / Alamy Stock PhotoTopics: Meghan Markle, Royal Family, Prince Harry