Prince William, Lady Gaga team up against mental health ´taboo´

Prince William, and American superstar Lady Gaga have teamed up to encourage people to speak more openly about mental health issues in a video released Tuesday

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AFP
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Prince William, Lady Gaga team up against mental health ´taboo´
Photo: Twitter/Lady Gaga

LONDON: Britain´s second in line to the throne, Prince William, and American superstar Lady Gaga have teamed up to encourage people to speak more openly about mental health issues in a video released Tuesday.

The unlikely pair chat online in the video posted on Facebook and urge people to break the stigma surrounding mental health.

"It´s time that everyone speaks up and really feels very normal about mental health, it´s the same as physical health," the Duke of Cambridge told Lady Gaga from Kensington Palace in London.

"It´s so important to break open that fear and that taboo which is only going to lead to more problems down the line," he said.

In an open letter published last year on the website of her Born This Way Foundation, Lady Gaga revealed that she was suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

"There is a lot of shame attached to mental illness, you feel like something´s wrong with you," the singer told Prince William from her home in Hollywood.

"We have to make the strongest, most relentless attempt we can to normalise mental health issues, so that people feel like they can come forward," she added.

The video -- which had been watched over 500,000 times within hours of its release -- is part of the Heads Together campaign, a mental health charity championed by William, his wife Kate and brother, Prince Harry.

It comes a day after Harry revealed that he spent years in "total chaos" as he struggled to deal with his emotions following the death of his mother, Princess Diana, when he was just 12.

Prince William was 15 at the time.

He said he eventually sought help from mental heath professionals at the age of 28, after encouragement from others, including "huge support" from his older brother.

The Duke of Cambridge and Lady Gaga get their #HeadsTogether f...

Watch live the World Premiere of a new Heads Together video featuring Prince William and Lady Gaga encouraging all of us to speak more openly about mental health. The pair discussed the powerful films that have been released showing people from all walks of life discussing their mental health challenges under the #Oktosay banner. Having conversations about mental health is vital to shattering the stigma that still surrounds these issues. In 2016 Lady Gaga released an open letter through her Born This Way Foundation revealing that she lives with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The Duke was hugely impressed with the openness displayed in the letter and asked Lady Gaga to get involved with the Heads Together campaign.

Posted by The Royal Family on Monday, 17 April 2017