The Duchess of Sussex gets candid about being online bullied and how she and Prince Harry deal with the negativity.
Meghan Markle is reminding people that she is human, with the same feelings and emotions like everyone else. The Duchess of Sussex got candid about how she felt after being the "most trolled person" in the world, during her and husband Prince Harry's conversation with the Teenager Therapy podcast in honor of World Mental Health Day.
"I'm told that in 2019 I was the most trolled person in the entire world, male or female. Now eight months of that, I wasn't even visible. I was on maternity leave or with a baby," she shared. "But what was able to just be manufactured and churned out, it's almost unsurvivable. That's so big, you can't even think of what that feels like. Because I don't care if you're 15 or 25, if people are saying things about you that aren't true, what that does to your mental and emotional health is so damaging."
"So I think from my standpoint, and part of the work that we do, is our own personal experiences and being able to talk to people, and understand that even through our experiences [are] unique to us and obviously can seem very different to what people experience on the day to day, it's still a very human experience and that's universal," she continued. "We all know what it feels like to have our feelings hurt. We all know what it feels like to be isolated or the other…We are all figuring it out."
When asked how they deal with the negativity Harry replied that he likes to meditate, while Meghan journals. They also touched on the importance of really asking their loved ones how they are doing, and not just glancing over their emotions or saying "I'm fine."
The conversation then promoted the hosts to ask the couple how they were really doing, which reminded Meghan of when journalist Tom Bradby asked her the same question during their 2019 South Africa royal tour. At the time she replied, "Not many people have asked if I'm OK," replying that she was "struggling" with her newfound attention.
"I didn't realize that my answer would receive such an interest from around the world," Meghan said during the podcast. "Because I said, 'Well thanks, people haven't really asked me if I'm OK.' I didn't think about that answer. I just answered honestly because I was in a moment of vulnerability, because I was tired, because there was no presentation. It was just, here I am. I'm a mom with a four-and-a-half month old baby and we are tired."
"But I think it speaks to the fact that the reason that it resonated with people is because everyone wants to be asked if they're OK," she said. "So today I would say, I am doing really well. Thank you for asking."
Harry added that they are very fortunate to be in the position that they're in amid the coronavirus pandemic. He also noted that he understands many people have been stuck indoors, and they're lucky to have outdoor space where their son, Archie, took his first steps and can run around.
The Duke of Sussex, along with his brother Prince William and Kate Middleton, has been a part of changing the stigma around mental health for many years. He concluded by adding that once he started talking about his own experiences, his sense of community grew.
"As I've always said to Meghan, before we even met, I've had this deep sense of community once I started to talk about my own mental health," he noted. "Because it's a community of people that no matter what, every single person wants to make sure that no one else goes through all they went through. And that's a community that I want to be a part of."
The couple, who stepped down as senior members of the royal family earlier this year, have been sharing more insight about their lives and how the current climate has impacted their lives.
Earlier this month, Harry also shared that his wife sparked an "awakening" in him on minority issues. Watch the video below to hear what he said.
RELATED CONTENT:
