Meghan opening up about mental health an important step to reducing stigma

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – The Duchess of Sussex’s candid conversation about mental health with Oprah Winfrey on Sunday is shining a spotlight on the subject, which touches people all over the world.

Meghan Markle told Winfrey that at one point, “I just didn’t want to be alive anymore” and said she had contemplated suicide.

She said she sought help through the palace’s human resources department but was told there was nothing they could do. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex say they are in a better place now.

Dr. Shimi Kang, a psychiatrist and clinical associate professor at UBC, says the fact that Meghan had that conversation on primetime TV is a huge deal and hopes to see more high-profile people do this in the future.

“It is stigmatized, there’s no doubt,” Kang said.

“Sometimes, the biggest stigmatizer is the person who has it themselves. They don’t feel worthy of getting help, themselves … We really need to do more about this conversation. We need to talk about it more and when celebrities and high-profile people talk about it, I think it’s great for everyone,” she added.

Related article: Revealing Meghan and Harry interview shakes UK royal family

Kang says it’s possible being woman of colour may have made it even harder for Meghan, who identifies as biracial, to speak out until now.

“We also know that there’s a real unconscious and conscious bias, when it comes to women and women of color,” she said.

Kang shared a personal experience with trying to get help with her health.

“I’m a woman of color and I navigated this health system with a chronic pain … And I would honestly say sometimes I wasn’t believed. I wasn’t believed, I was kind of maybe disregarded and my health wasn’t taken as seriously. I really faced it myself. And I’m a doctor. I’m a Harvard-trained doctor and I had to advocate for myself,” she said.

Related article: Race, title and anguish: Meghan and Harry explain royal rift to Oprah

She hopes Sunday’s interview helps remove the stigma around mental health struggles.

“All the money in the world or all the support or servants or whatever they may associate with her being the duchess, and even she had a hard time and couldn’t get the help, then maybe that’s the case with me, too. And maybe I need to step away from whichever environment that is impacting me. Maybe I need to find a different doctor. Maybe I need to find a different family,” Kang said.

“I think those aspects can help shed how people think about that as well, and say, ‘Okay what do I need to do for myself? What isn’t working in my situation?’ Because clearly … at the end of the day, you still need to do what you need to do for your own health and well being.”

In the couple’s interview with Winfrey, Meghan described that when she was pregnant with son Archie, there were “concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born.”

Prince Harry confirmed the conversation, saying: “I was a bit shocked.” He said he would not reveal who made the comment.

The couple is expecting their second child — a girl — sometime this summer.

-With files from Yasmin Gandham