The Queen at Balmoral in 2019
(Picture: Getty)Brits are increasingly convinced a ‘stiff upper lip’ is an outdated idea, a survey has shown.
Results, released in the run up to Mental Health Awareness Week 2022, show a staggering 86 per cent of Britons believe its time to ‘keep calm and carry on’ from the stiff upper lip - the idea of holding onto feelings and not showing true emotion which has traditionally been part of British culture.
Younger royals seem to share this view too - Prince Harry spoke out against the British stiff upper lip in a podcast earlier this week.
Speaking to Reid Hoffman on the Master of Scale podcast, he said: “In the UK it’s like, ‘Therapist? What therapist? Whose therapist? I don’t have a therapist. No, I definitely don’t, I’ve never spoken to a therapist.”
In relation to grief and trauma, he added: “It doesn’t matter what age you are, but the majority of us have experienced a lot of that in our younger years, therefore we’ve forgotten about it.
“And I think the more we can talk about it, the more we can understand it.
“The more we understand it, the more we understand each other.”
His comments echo the general view of Britons, according to the survey of 1500 people commissioned by Maryland Cookies.
The poll shows 88 per cent of Britons wear their heart on their sleeves and a further 81 per cent believe that we are freer to be ourselves than ever before.
The data also shows 97 per cent of Britons agree it’s important to cut “loose” and 71 per cent admire those who remain true to themselves and let it all hang out.
The results are positive news ahead of Mental Health Awareness Week, taking place from Monday 9 May to Sunday 15 May in the UK.
The Mental Health Foundation announced the theme for the 2022 event would be loneliness.
Mental Health Foundation chief executive Mark Rowland said: “Loneliness is affecting more and more of us in the UK and has had a huge impact on our physical and mental health during the pandemic. That is why we have chosen it as our theme for Mental Health Awareness Week 2022.”
