Lady Diana: We Must Teach Our Children Their Worth

Lady Diana - Care For Others

The late Princess Diana opens up about her experience with depression and bulimia, and urges us to care for our children so that they can learn to value themselves.

Transcript:

"Yes, I did inflict upon myself. My arms and my legs. I didn't like myself. I was ashamed, because I couldn't cope with the pressures. I had bulimia for a number of years, and that's like a secret disease. You inflict it upon yourself, because your self esteem is to lower and you don't think you're worthy, or valuable.

"You feel your stomach up four or five times a day, some do it more, and it gives you a feeling of comfort. It's like having a pair of arms around you, but it's temporary. Then you're disgusted at the bloatiness of your stomach, and then you bring it all up again. It's a repetitive pattern, which is very destructive to yourself.

"Maybe I was the first person ever to be in this family who ever had a depression, or was ever openly tearful. Obviously that was daunting, because if you've never seen it before, how do you support it? I gave everybody a wonderful and new label as Diana's unstable, and Diana's mentally unbalanced.

"You have to know that when you have bulimia you're very ashamed of yourself, and you hate yourself, and people think you're wasting food. You don't discuss it with people. You have so much pain inside yourself that you try and hurt yourself on the outside, because you want help, but it's the wrong help you're asking for.

"The ultimate solution lies within the individual. Yet all of us can help prevent the seeds of this disease developing. As parents, teachers, family, and friends we have an obligation to care for our children in ways which clearly show our children that we value them. They, in their turn, will then learn how to value themselves."