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“I don’t believe a word she says,” is what former Good Morning Britain host Piers Morgan announced to millions of viewers after Duchess Meghan Markle revealed her struggle with her mental health and suicidal thoughts in an interview with Oprah Winfrey. “I wouldn't believe her if she read me a weather report.”

Meghan is just one of many women worldwide who have experienced serious battles with mental health and suicidal thoughts. In her interview we learn how she was dismissed time and time again by Royal officials, and on a larger scale by the public, with thousands of social media users branding her a "cry baby," and a "liar," among many other harmful stereotypes.

Women’s mental health has been criminally undermined for years. We see it everywhere, from pop culture to classic novels (take Jane Eyre and the “mad woman in the attic” narrative), “female hysteria” being one of the most commonly diagnosed disorders in the 18^th and 19^th century as a way to explain away a woman’s struggle with mental health as an inherent and predisposed characteristic of being a woman and nothing more.

Of course, modern concepts of mental health allow women to be diagnosed more accurately, but the echoes of the female hysteria myth can still be heard. Women are consistently told that the negative experiences they go through are their fault – their choice to wear a short skirt meant they were “asking for it”, their cries for help in times of mental distress mean they are looking for “attention”, they are “crazy”, or they are “hysterical”. Clinicians still act as though women’s symptoms are exaggerated with women being more likely to be misdiagnosed or simply not diagnosed at all in comparison to men. When women describe having suicidal thoughts they aren’t taken seriously, despite evidence showing that millions of people do experience them every year.

Female hysteria is a phrase that translates to “it’s all in her head,” and that is exactly the damaging message Piers Morgan’s chillingly cool indifference to a woman asking for help portrays to the masses. His reaction is a prime example of a society steeped in scepticism and stereotypes, in which a culture of blaming women shames them for seeking help and forces them into silence instead of opening a conversation and encouraging them to seek support.

In 2020, figures show that suicide rates among young women and girls reached a record high in England and Wales, increasing by 94% – so why are we still pretending that the growing mental health threat to our women isn’t very real and very dangerous so long as we continue to victim blame?

Invalidating trauma is counterproductive, say experts.

"It shames them and thus silences them, which is the exact worst possible reaction in terms of ever preventing a suicide," says David Jobes, director of the Catholic University of America's Suicide Prevention Lab and creator of CAMS – Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality.

Immediate intervention and support are crucial in preventing death numbers rising. Networks like the Women’s Mental Health Network are campaigning to give mental health needs the voice they need to find this support.

“The network’s focus is to improve women’s experience of using statutory services in a range of settings, such as hospitals, prisons, drugs and alcohol, housing, social services, by influencing them to become more gender-specific.”

Language like “I don’t believe” and “she’s crazy” can be fatal. Meghan Markle’s interview is an important cultural moment in the fight to normalise talking openly about a topic considered taboo. It is a reset for women whose voices are screaming to be heard.

We should be praising Meghan, and all women, for seeking the support they deserve. We should be listening to women, not dismissing them.