Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, shared how her husband, Prince Harry, gave her the number of a mental health professional to call during her "worst point."
On the Oct. 11 episode of her podcast "Archetypes," titled “The Decoding of Crazy,” the former Meghan Markle revealed how Harry found a professional for her to call.
"I mean, I think at my worst point, being finally connected to someone that, you know, my husband had found a referral for me to call," Meghan said. "And I called this woman. She didn't know I was even calling her.
"And she was checking out at the grocery store. I could hear the little beep, beep, and I was like 'Hi,' and I’m introducing myself and that you can literally you're going, 'Wait, sorry. I'm just. Who is this?' Um and saying I need help. And she could hear the dire state that I was in," she continued. "But I think it's for all of us to be really honest about what it is that you need and to not be afraid to make peace with that, to ask for it."
For the fifth episode of “Archetypes,” Meghan spoke with actor Constance Wu, comedian and writer Jenny Slate and activist and Bollywood star Deepika Padukone about mental health and the extra hurdles women often face when it comes to getting help.
"Raise your hand if you’ve ever been called 'crazy' or 'hysterical' … or what about 'nuts,' 'insane,' 'out of your mind' … 'completely irrational,'" Meghan said at the start of the episode. "OK, you get the point. Now, if we were all in the same room and could see each other, I think it’d be pretty easy to see just how many of you out there have your hands up … by the way, me too.
"I feel pretty strongly about this word … this label: 'crazy,' the way that it’s thrown around so casually and the damage it’s wrought on society and women everywhere — from relationships to families being shattered, reputations destroyed and careers ruined," she continued. "The stigma surrounding the word, it also has this silencing effect — this effect where women experiencing real mental health issues, they get scared, they stay quiet, they internalize and repress for far too long."
Wu, who has opened up about her suicide attempt in 2019 following backlash to a series of tweets about the renewal of another season of ABC's "Fresh Off the Boat," spoke with Meghan about what happened.
"It took, like, a DM from an actress colleague of mine, an Asian actress, who basically said that I had become a disgrace to my race and that — you know, I was basically better off dead. It made me feel like I didn’t deserve to be alive anymore," Wu said.
Wu, who has a 2-year-old daughter, began crying while discussing her suicide attempt.
"If you weren’t crying, I’d be worried," Meghan said. "Right? Because so much of it is, especially based on what you’re talking about, which is when everything’s just building up, building up internalized emotion, whether it’s sadness or relief or everything. I mean how — just like when you’re talking about with your daughter, when you watch our kids, the most beautiful thing in the world, even though in the moment it might not feel that way, is if they have a breakdown and they just scream and they let it all out. They let it all out and guess what happens?"
"And then a second later, they’re like…" Wu replied.
"They’re fine," Meghan said. "Because they let it out."
"Archetypes" took a brief break after the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Sept. 8, but resumed releases last week with the fourth episode, "The Demystification of Dragon Lady", featuring guests Margaret Cho and Lisa Ling.
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