[Trigger warning: This post references suicide.]
Over the weekend, the former Duke and Duchess of Sussex talked to US TV host Oprah Winfrey about a range of subjects, including their struggles with mental health.
Meghan in particular opened up about her thoughts of suicide and revealed she had tried to access support with the HR team at the palace.
MQ's CEO Lea Milligan appeared on ITV’s lunchtime news to discuss the wider implications of this interview.
“This is an eye-opening opportunity for us as a nation to have a better discussion on mental illness”
We need to stop asking if we believe someone’s story or how it will reflect on us, but instead ask ‘How can we help’?”
Meghan is not alone in her struggles. An MQ researcher, Professor Rory O’Connor, has found that 20% of all young adults, aged 18-24, have had suicidal thoughts. Across the UK over 7000 people die from suicide each year, with that figure steadily increasing.
People of a black or other ethnic minority background have higher rates of mental health issues and are more at risk of suicide than people of white backgrounds.
Experiences of discrimination, including racism and sexism, can induce physiological and psychological reactions that can lead to adverse changes in mental health status. Despite this one of the demographics at greatest risk, women of colour, are the group who have had the least research carried out on their experiences of mental health.
It is for this reason that over the next five years MQ is investing in research that will aim to understand and develop effective interventions for specific areas.
Gone too soon
People with severe mental illnesses die earlier than people without - not just from suicide but also from a disproportionately high rate of physical health problems.
MQ is launching a new programme which will convene world-leading experts to establish the causes and find solutions for both death by suicide and the mortality gap.
- This will involve establishing a means of real-time data on suicide and self-harm
- Understanding the mechanisms of risk and developing interventions for the people who need them most.
Challenging Inequalities
Interconnected structural inequalities drastically impact how people experience mental illness and treatment. MQ is working to target the rising tide of youth mental illness, and the racial inequalities in treatment to end the scandal of lives cut short through failure to listen as part of our five-year strategy.
Participation in research
MQ is committed to recruiting diverse volunteers for research studies wherever possible to ensure that our work is reflective of the community it serves.
Through our Participate platform, MQ matches researchers with volunteers directly, removing barriers to recruitment and ensuring that volunteers are from a range of backgrounds.
