Prince William is encouraging fathers to take a moment to discuss mental health issues with their children as he marks his third Father’s Day as a parent.
The Duke of Cambridge discussed the importance of addressing the subject of mental health in an article published by Sunday Express.
“For me it is a day not just to celebrate how fortunate I am for my young family, but to reflect on just how much I’ve learned about fatherhood and the issues facing fathers in all walks of life,” he wrote.
“In particular, it is a time to reflect on my responsibility to look after not just the physical health of my two children, but to treat their mental needs as just as important a priority.”
The prince, who is second in line to the throne, wrote that he had been spending a lot of time working on issues around mental health along with wife Catherine and his brother Prince Harry.
Prince William, 33, also said how so many of the issues that adolescents and adults were dealing with “[could] be linked to unresolved childhood challenges”.
These include “addicts that were not getting treatment for a serious psychological condition that started in their teens; men who committed suicide who had been depressed since they were in primary school [and] homeless teenagers who could not confront significant emotional challenges”.
“While the circumstances of any one situation are unique, it is clear that many families could have been helped if they had found it easier to talk openly about mental health challenges in the home,” he wrote.
In his closing statement, the prince stated that children needed their fathers’ guidance and support just as much as they needed their mothers’.
This post originally appeared on ABC News.
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