Sadly I know what its like to be in that moment where you reel utterly alone and the only option ahead of you is to take your life. I also know how fantastic such charities are. They literally save lives, as we have seen in this video.
Kate and William have really worked hard at their mental health angle, and Shout! is a brilliant initiative. I really like that you can use text rather than phone, for people with phone anxiety like myself that is a huge help. The publicity campaigns for Shout have been wide reaching and evidently all the hard work by everyone involved is paying off. The fact that they have helped to save even just one life makes it so worthwhile. Although hearing this story must have been very sad and emotional, Kate and William must also feel proud that they helped save a life of a 12 year old boy.
Yes, and having done the base work prior made it easier to put this to the forefront of their work. A pandemic can never have good timing, but the fact that this was already a cause they were undertaking and the prior publicity allowed the public (including this boy) to know help was available during these difficult times.
I can be fairly cynical when it comes to royal ‘causes,’ but anything that keeps focus on the resources available for mental health and well-being is a good thing.
Thank you Kristallinchen, TLLK and Paulina for your virtual hug. Fortunately for me those days are long gone, but the memories remain.
And Minimoos I agree, I can be fairly cynical too about royal causes, and initially I was about the Cambridges involvement with mental health. Admittedly I saw it as "jumping on the bandwagon" as a lot of public debate was about mental health at the time, and given the work ethic the pair had shown I wasn't expecting good things. But I've been so pleasantly surprised and humbled by their work, and now I mention Shout when posting online about seeking help and when I'm talking to friends who have poor mental wellbeing. I know that in years to come they will be associated with a lot of charities and initiatives, but I hope that Shout stays and remains a royal patronage for decades to come.
Also in the UK, there has been a sea change about mental health. I'm not saying that's entirely down to Wills and Kate but by putting themselves out there and talking about it has helped a lot. People are still a bit wary of terms like "bipolar" or "schizophrenia", but in my experience at least, I find that people ask more questions and are more considerate, rather than presumptive and buying into the stigma.
