There is still “a long way to go” on mental health in the UK but things are “changing”, the Duke of Cambridge has said.<\/p>\n
William discussed men\u2019s mental health projects on a visit to Pall Mall Barbers in Paddington on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The duke said it was important that men feel they have somebody who listens to their concerns, and compared mental health issues with physical illness.<\/p>\n
William met the Lions Barber Collective who are raising awareness of suicide prevention. Credit: PA<\/p>\n
“Guys need support. People think they need to man up,” the duke said.<\/p>\n
“If you\u2019re suffering, then you\u2019re suffering.<\/p>\n
“If you have a broken leg, then you go and see the doctor. You wouldn\u2019t turn around and say ‘I can manage this’ with an open fracture.<\/p>\n
“We\u2019ve still got a long way to go, but it is changing.”<\/p>\n
William met members of the Lions Barber Collective on his visit, professionals who have come together to raise awareness of mental health problems for the prevention of suicide.<\/p>\n
The Duke of Cambridge is reflected in a mirror as he meets members of the Lion Barbers Collective. Credit: PA<\/p>\n
Through the scheme, barbers are being trained to recognise depression and mental health issues in their clients and point them in the direction of support.<\/p>\n
But the duke did not waste the easy opportunity for a joke, telling the barbers: “I don\u2019t need haircuts anymore.”<\/p>\n
Dean Hamilton, 30, a barber and member of the Lions Barber Collective, said he thought the last half decade had brought big changes in the treatment of mental health.<\/p>\n
“We\u2019re seeing massive change,” he said.<\/p>\n
“My little boy told his entire class I was meeting you today. The fact that I\u2019m making my son that proud and he\u2019s recognising about learning about mental health shows the massive changes in the last five years.”<\/p>\n
William met members of the Lions Barber Collective who are raising awareness of suicide prevention. Credit: PA<\/p>\n
He said meeting Prince William was “a privilege”, adding: “It was amazing because it shows all of our efforts are not for nothing.<\/p>\n
“It was great not to feel judged.”<\/p>\n
Another member of the collective, Paul Richardson, credited the project with helping him to receive help for his mental health issues.<\/p>\n
He said: “The project made me realise I had issues. Until then I just thought I was quite a miserable person.<\/p>\n
“This is something I could get help with and I could improve on the issues I have.”<\/p>\n
The Duke of Cambridge speaks to Tom Chapman founder of the charity and barber Daniel Davies (right) as he meets members of the Lion Barbers Collective. Credit: PA<\/p>\n
The duke also met 28-year-old Ken Hermes, a barber who lost his father to suicide aged 15.<\/p>\n
Mr Hermes said he had unanswered questions following the death of his father and praised the project for allowing open and honest conversations on male mental health.<\/p>\n
William spoke to Dean Hamilton (right) and Paul Richardson during the visit. Credit: PA<\/p>\n
The Duke of Cambridge has thrown his support behind a number of mental health projects.<\/p>\n
He leads the Heads Together initiative, alongside the Duchess of Cambridge and the Duke of Sussex, which aims to tackle the stigma around mental health.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There is still “a long way to go” on mental health in the UK but things are “changing”,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1179321,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[7708],"tags":[7709,7714,7713,533,2832,532,2831,7710,519,7711,7712],"class_list":["post-1179320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-royals","tag-british-royal-family","tag-catherine","tag-catherine-middleton","tag-kate-middleton","tag-prince-of-wales","tag-prince-william","tag-princess-of-wales","tag-royal-families","tag-royal-family","tag-uk-royal-family","tag-william"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1179320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1179320"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1179320\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1179321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1179320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1179320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1179320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}