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A former solider found the courage to speak out about his battle with mental health problems after Prince Harry told him it was not a sign of weakness.

Norman Bareham, a former Coldstream Guard, suffered what he called a “catastrophic” nervous breakdown and was left feeling suicidal.

But he kept his feelings bottled up, believing he needed to “put on a brave face” rather than discuss his feelings, which he felt was a sign of weakness.

But his opinions changed when he listened to a speech by the 32-year-old prince, who served in the Army for 10 years, rising to the rank of Captain and undertaking two tours of Afghanistan.

Earlier this year the senior royal revealed in an interview with The Telegraph that he had finally sought counselling after coming close to a “complete breakdown” on several occasions following the death of his mother Princess Diana.

Prince Harry said he spoke out in a bid encourages people to break the stigma surrounding mental health issues and it certainly had the desired effect on Norman.

On Armed Forces Day today, Saturday, a video has been released of Norman talking about his issues and how he overcame them.

The clip has been tweeted by Heads Together, a campaign jointly co-ordinated by The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, with the aim of ending stigma around mental health in the UK.

In the video Norman says: “As an ex-serviceman you just have this inherent reserve about discussing your inner feelings. Put on a brave face, be one of the lads, crack on, do the things that soldiers do. But inwardly, we’re falling apart.

“The turning point for me was when Prince Harry said that having a mental illness is not a weakness, the weakness is failing to do anything about it.”

Louise Brearley, Norman’s daughter, said she realised there was something really wrong with her dad when he became withdrawn from the family.

She said: “He didn’t want to talk, he didn’t want to laugh, became incredibly serious but also very, very hypersensitive."

The concerned woman contacted forces charity Help for Heroes and they are providing support for her dad.

She describes her dad’s road to recovery as a “work in progress” but said: “My story could have been very different if we hadn’t asked for help.”

If you need to speak to someone, Samaritans are available 24/7 by calling 116 123 or by emailing jo@samaritans.org