Prince William is doing his part to increase awareness about mental health.
The Prince of Wales recently shared a snippet of his candid discussion with two England soccer players, Harry Kane and Declan Rice. And in the video, the athletes opened up about how they've dealt with their own mental health challenges, especially after their loss at the Euro 2020 tournament in July 2021.
Per People, Rice told William, "There was a special moment after that game, the togetherness when we all come in a huddle after we'd lost that, and Gareth [Southgate] said some really important words. As a group, I think that brought us forward together because then we had to qualify for a World Cup in the next round of games."
He added, "We really overcame that setback of losing that final, showed our togetherness and our strength, and I feel that we are in a really good place as a national team that we can keep pushing and getting better because the togetherness we've built is really special to be a part of."
Prince William, a proud soccer fan, also explained that people can learn a thing or two from how the team respond to defeat. "You learn by playing a number of times and many other things in life that disappointment is part of life, and how you handle it is crucial," he told the players.
"Handling some of those really disappointing England results in the past, that was hard," the prince continued. "I found that really difficult because again the same euphoria that we had comes crashing down. You feel high and all together, and then normal life just gets on again."
Kane, who currently serves as captain of the England national team, pointed out the importance of having honest discussions about mental health. He said, "Talking here about different stuff—highs and lows that we've been through as players. That's my aim is to, especially to the younger generation, talk to them and try and provide ways of talking about mental health and wellbeing."
"The more we talk about it and open up, it will definitely help solve and hopefully encourage people not to be afraid to ask for help, especially when you are feeling a little bit lower," he added.
As you may have noticed from his past initiatives, Prince William is no stranger to the mental health conversation. In honor of World Mental Health Day in October, he and his wife, Kate Middleton, joined a group of experts at Radio 1’s Newsbeat to lead a discussion about mental health. William said, "A lot of people don't realize what they need until it actually comes along. You can be living one life one minute and something massively changes and you realize you don't necessarily have the tools or the experience to be able to tackle that."
Middleton chimed in, "There's no right or wrong, that's the thing as well, different things will work for different people."
Major kudos to the prince and princess for campaigning to support mental health.
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