Harry: I’ve been trained to help mental health cases

PRINCE Harry has undergone professional training to help people suffering from mental health issues.

He attended a two-day course while working with injured servicemen and women at the London District Personnel recovery Unit after leaving the Army.

He does not have any formal qualifications as a result, but plans to use the experience in his public work with military veterans, a cornerstone of his official royal role. Harry has hinted at having difficult days during two frontline tours of Afghanistan, and experienced some of the issues faced by former service personnel on leaving his military ‘family’ in 2015 after a ten-year career.

A source said: ‘Through his work with the personal recovery unit he attended a twoday course about how to help people with mental health issues in the veterans context. It’s about mental health first aid: what do you do when someone comes to you, what words should you use, which direction can you point them in? It also went through the range of issues veterans face.

‘PTSD [Post Traumatic Stress Disorder] isn’t the stigma that it once was, but it is sometimes used as a catch-all diagnosis when other issues such an depression and anxiety may be more appropriate.’

Details of the prince’s training came as celebrities including former england cricketer Freddie Flintoff, journalist Mark Austin and comedian ruby Wax spoke candidly about their experiences of mental illness as part of a major new royal project.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry have today released ten films featuring people talking about their battles with anxiety, alcoholism, depression, trauma and eating disorders. The videos are part of a campaign to break the stigma surrounding mental health issues. Last year William, Kate and Harry formed the Heads Together coalition to start a ‘national conversation about mental health’.