Prince Harry receives backlash for his “out-of-touch” mental health remarks
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On his first public appearance for this year, Prince Harry shared his thoughts on mental health and work burnout in an online discussion hosted by the personal coaching company BetterUp, in which the Duke is working as a Chief Impact Officer.
Speaking with his co-panellists BetterUp chief executive Alexi Robichaux and tennis icon Serena Williams, Prince Harry highlighted the importance of maintaining a proper work-life balance and even shared that he himself experienced ‘work burnout’ as well.
“I was getting to the very end of everything I had, any fuel, any steam in the engine; I was burning the candle at both ends,” said the 37-year-old prince. “The only way you can really combat it and really build resilience for the outside world is the inner work.”
He added that even employers play a major part in their employees’ ability to take care of themselves, saying: “From an employer's perspective, you can't expect – in today's world – people to put in the work on themselves if you're not giving them the time to be able to do that.”
Then, he went on to open up about how “self-care is the first thing that drops away” on days when he feels extremely burnt-out. So, he shared with the audience his ‘self-care routine’ to combat restlessness.
“I now put in about half an hour, 45 minutes, in the morning when it’s like: ‘Okay, one of the kids has gone to school, the other one is taking a nap, there’s a break in our programme,’” said the father-of-two. He revealed that he commits time for working out, taking the dog for a walk, and meditating every single day to make time for his mental health breaks.
“Most people listening will think ‘But I don't have the time.’ The good thing is, you can make time,” said the royal.
“And if you don't have time, you probably need to make time even more.”
Prince Harry talks about the importance of prioritising mental health and the ways on how to deal with burnout. Credit: BetterUp.
One person on Twitter wrote: “The whole notion that Prince Harry is giving ordinary working people advice is a joke.”
One woman also pointed out how it’s not easy to do “inner work” when you have to struggle on making ends meet every day.
“Doing inner work is a hell of a lot easier when people pay you millions for doing pretty much nothing, when you can afford all the therapy you like, and you have nannies and household staff running around doing the work for you while you lounge around focusing on yourself,” she said.
One mum even found the advice “insulting”, saying: “How would Harry EVER know what it’s like to work 40+ hrs, maintain home, cut grass, get groceries, make meals, take care of kids 24/7, pay bills. Or go to university, work 20 hrs/weeks/60 in summer to pay for school and still be in debt. He’s never struggled a DAY!”
On the other hand, not everyone pounced on the Duke for his mental health remarks.
One user defended the prince, adding that “stress is subjective” and everyone experiences it.
“Surely if you haven't walked in someone's shoes you cannot comment. The intense pressure that he must feel for being born in the Royal Family must be huge. There is enough hatred in the world already. Can't people give it a rest with them,” they said.
Some even commented that the prince’s advice helped them out a lot.
“I’ve started getting up an hour earlier than I need to so that I have time to workout, meditate, read, whatever I feel will be the best thing for me to do that day. It’s helped so much,” one person wrote.
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