James Middleton on how his sister helped him recover from depression
In 2019, James Middleton - brother of Catherine, Princess of Wales - revealed that two years earlier, he'd been diagnosed with clinical depression and spent almost a year in cognitive behavioural therapy.
Five years on, he's written a memoir, Meet Ella: The Dog Who Saved My Life, sharing the importance of both his dogs and his family to his recovery - and in Good Housekeeping's November issue, he shares how it was his sister, Catherine, who gave him the courage to speak up.
For some years, Catherine and her husband Prince William had been leading the mental health initiative Heads Together, addressing stigma and fundraising for new services.
"With my sister’s campaigning, and with the public profile I’ve inadvertently gained, I felt in a strong position to speak out – and I’m very pleased I did," says James.
"I went out with a banner above my head, so to speak, saying, 'I suffer with my mental health, and I recognise I’m from a privileged background, but depression is classless and raceless. It can affect anyone and everyone.'"
His parents, Carole and Michael Middleton, are of a generation who are cautious about conversations around mental health, he explains. They worried about him being labelled as depressive and took time to understand why he chose to do talking therapy and, temporarily, to take medication. So he was grateful that Catherine and William were so well-informed on mental health.
"I think it certainly helped my family to understand that depression is not a 'sweep it under the carpet' thing – it’s something that needs to be addressed," he says. "It also particularly helped that my sister and William understood that time is a key factor in the length of recovery and it’s a process that can’t be rushed."
Read the full interview in the November issue of Good Housekeeping, on newsstands from 26th September. Meet Ella: The Dog Who Saved My Life (Radar) by James Middleton is out 26th September.
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