The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry can be proud that it’s now a year since they launched Heads Together to raise awareness of mental health issues. But why did it take the royal family to say ‘You don’t have to suffer mental torment’?
Our headline “Dressed and in their right minds”, like so many daily idioms, comes from Mark’s Gospel (5:1-20). Jesus dealt with ‘mental health’ by casting out demons with a word or speaking the truth in a way that set people free (“My words are Spirit and they are life”).
Yet non-churchgoers like Prince Harry who are suffering mental torment and feeling desperately hurt and misunderstood, don’t seek out Christian help. Prince Harry, probably the most famous bereaved 12-year-old on the planet when he walked behind his mother’s coffin in 1991, admitted he had bottled up his feelings for nearly two decades and had only sought help three years ago.
In an amazingly frank interview with Daily Telegraph journalist Bryony Gordon, the 32 year-old prince said, “Keeping quiet doesn’t do any good. One of the biggest frustrations over the last three years has been finding the right person to talk to.” He revealed that one ‘shrink’ had said the wrong thing after one and a half years of counselling which had ruined their relationship – and made him walk away. “It’s not just the person but the timing”, he said.
At this point many Christians would want to tell HRH, “We know someone whose timing is perfect, who always says the right thing,” referring to their own relationship with Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit and the inner change they’ve experienced in services where the presence of God was strong.
Yet somehow the message that the Church, through the Bible and the power of the Holy Spirit can set people free from suffering like Jesus did, has failed to permeate the public consciousness.
Click below to read our accompanying article:
People are crying out to be heard, to express their pain and anger – and Christians are keeping the keys in their back pocket