Kate Middleton went to family therapy sessions to help her brother James as he battled depression
KATE Middleton attended family therapy sessions with brother James as he battled depression.
The Duchess of Cambridge’s youngest sibling, 32, says she played a key role in his recovery during a low period in his life which saw him experience suicidal thoughts.
James – who recently got engaged to his 29-year-old French financier girlfriend Alizee Thevenet – has opened up about the part family played in getting his mental health back on track.
The entrepreneur revealed to the Daily Telegraph that Kate, 38, as well as mum Carole, dad Michael and other older sister Pippa, joined him at some of his therapy sessions.
“All of them. Not necessarily at the same time, but either individually and [sometimes] together,” he explained.
Speaking about the major depressive episode that brought him to that point, he said: “I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t read a book, I couldn’t watch a film, I couldn’t eat. If I ate something it just sat there.
“I was just like, ‘What am I meant to do?’ I was better off in my own company, so I didn’t have the additional worry of someone thinking, ‘What’s wrong with him?’ I removed myself from everything.”
Prince William’s brother-in-law – who was just 13 when his sister started dating the royal – said he initially struggled to tell his family what he was going through.
However, realising something was wrong, they staged an intervention through his friends who encouraged him to seek help.
It was then, according to James, that he checked himself into a private psychiatric hospital where he began almost a year of cognitive behavioural therapy.
During these sessions he admitted for the first time to having experienced suicidal thoughts.
James – who also suffers from dyslexia and attention deficit disorder – credits one of his five dogs, Ella, with being a supportive presence during this dark period.
Kate’s brother also now looks after his mind through exercise, such as long-distance running, cycling and skiing, and by listening to audiobooks, such as Stephen Fry’s narration of the Harry Potter books.
He proposed to fiancée Alizee in the Lake District – just over a year after they started dating following a chance encounter at the South Kensington Club.
MOST READ IN FABULOUS
In other royal news, we told you how Mike Tindall doesn’t follow Meghan Markle and Prince Harry or Kate Middleton and Prince William on his newly opened Instagram account.
We also revealed how “King of Ginge” Ed Sheeran jokes to Prince Harry that nobody understands what it’s like for ‘people like us’ in brilliant video for World Mental Health Day.