Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, recently hosted actor Deepika Padukone on her podcast Archetypes where the two women discussed their mental health journey. As Deepika opened up about how she reached out for help, Meghan recalled how she got in touch with a mental health professional for the first time and how Prince Harry had been the instrument in her making that decision.
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Meghan shared that it was Harry who had found the professional through a referral and when Meghan called her up, she was not expecting her call. Meghan recalled this phase in her life as her “worst point” and said, “I think at my worst point being finally connected to someone that you know, my husband had found a referral for me to call. I called this woman. She didn’t know I was even calling her. And she was checking out at the grocery store.”
Meghan, who was still living in the UK with the royal family at the time, said that she introduced herself and the woman on the other side sounded a little confused but could identify the “dire state” she was in. “I said, hi, I’m introducing myself. And like, you literally are going wait.. sorry.. I’m just… who is this? and saying I need help and she could hear the dire state that I was in,” she said. Meghan added, “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.”
Deepika mentioned that for her, it was the little things that mattered on her ongoing mental health journey. “It’s all about the little things like just, you know, hugging my sister or late-night conversations with my husband. Those are the moments that really fill me up today,” she shared.
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Earlier in the episode, Meghan also spoke to Crazy Rich Asians actor Constance Wu and here, she spoke about how watching her kids express their emotions felt liberating and she would also want to do the same but still has a “different kind of composure.” She said, “I would love to cry this much, but I’m conditioned to still have a different kind of composure and now you sort of go… oh just relax and let it out. I see the same thing in my kids as you’re talking about in yours or I’m like oh my God I want to do that. I want to like feel so deeply.” Meghan continued, “It’s like an Adele album just like so much intense emotion and you just get it out and you share it.”
Previously, Meghan had opened up about her mental health journey in a chat with Oprah Winfrey in 2021. At the time, Meghan had shared that she had suicidal thoughts during her first pregnancy. “I share this because there are so many people who are afraid to voice that they need help. And I know how hard it is to not just voice it but to voice it and be told no,” she had said.
