More than 20 years after his mother, Princess Diana, was killed, Prince Harry recently sought mental health treatment to deal with the effects of the trauma. In an interview for On Point, the Prince said he came close to a “complete breakdown” and finally sought help after realizing that his unresolved grief had caused negative effects even into his adult life.

He told the press, “(I) started to have a few conversations and actually all of a sudden, all of this grief that I have never processed started to come to the forefront and I was like, there is actually a lot of stuff here that I need to deal with.”

Hollywood stars Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell are taking the opposite approach to therapy: they started early. The couple has been married for five years and sought a professional perspective right away. “There’s such a negative connotation,” Shepard told Good Housekeeping. “In my previous relationship, we went to couples’ therapy at the end, and that’s often too late. You can’t go after nine years and start figuring out what patterns you’re in.”

Therapist Holly Schweitzer Dunn, LISW, made a few observations from the therapeutic decisions of famous people:

1. Money, fame, and even royalty cannot save you from your problems.  We all live in the world and need help processing our experiences from time to time.
2. It’s never too late to seek treatment, but sooner is better. We begin to implement coping mechanisms immediately after a stressful event and the earlier a person can begin to work through the process of healing, the fewer negative patterns of behavior that will need to be examined. Often with trauma, or any significant life event, a person can attempt to deflect, avoid,or redirect emotions in unhealthy ways.  These initial coping responses will become life lifestyle patterns if left unchecked.  
3. As a society we must continue to remove the stigma around seeking help with mental heath issues. Regular maintenance – checking in with your whole self – goes a long way in preventing complete breakdowns. Just like we change the oil in our vehicles to prevent catastrophic damage to the engines, we can approach our well being in the same manner. Instead of ignoring warning signs, seeking the help of a professional counselor will provide tools to help create a coping strategy for healthy, long-term benefit.