KATE MIDDLETON BACKS ANIMATED FILM ON MENTAL HEALTH

The Duchess of Cambridge recently acknowledged and spoke on mental health by backing an animated film created by the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families. Kate Middleton stepped in front of the camera to voice her opinion about the same, her first public appearance since her pregnancy announcement.

Kate, who is a patron of the organization, began by greeting viewers and defining mental health. She then further talked about the benefits of talking about one's mental health with others and how people can support their friends by listening.

"Hello, mental health is how we feel and think," she said. "Things that can't really be seen but that affect us every day, and talking about them can feel difficult. It helps us all to talk about our mental health: what to say and who to talk to when we have feelings that are too big to manage on our own," she said, "and how to listen and help if one of our friends is finding things difficult. Sometimes it's just a simple conversation that can make things better."

The film stars a group of young students who are depicted as fingerprints with the underlying idea being that just like how everyone's fingerprint is different, each student experienced different emotions at different times and manages them in unique ways. The film differentiates between "small feelings" that people experience every day (e.g. happiness, anger) and "big feelings" that don't go away and inhibit the way people live their daily lives.

The Duchess of Cambridge has worked on other mental health initiatives with her husband Prince William and his brother Prince Harry as part of the Heads Together campaign.