The stiff upper lip: it’s a quintessentially British stereotype. Strength amidst adversity, decorum and self-restraint: these are all positive virtues. But could we be paying a price for our reserve?

Last week, Prince Harry revealed that he had come close to a ‘complete breakdown’ in the years following his mother’s death. Unable to process his grief, Harry reportedly ‘shut down all his emotions’, waiting almost 20 years to seek help.

The prince’s experience is not uncommon. We’ve come a long way in our attitudes to mental health, but many of us still struggle to confront issues where they arise. And this is particularly true for men.

According to research from the mental health charity Heads Together, approximately 83 per cent of people find it helpful to discuss their mental health, but men are significantly less likely to open up than women are.

This reticence is, in part, to blame for the high rate of male suicide in the UK. Suicide is the leading cause of death for men aged 45 and under, and men are three times more likely to take their own lives than women are.

It’s really important that we address this continued reluctance to seek help for mental illness, which affects both men and women. Depression is a treatable illness, and countermeasures have come a long way in recent years. This is partly thanks to the work of scientists studying the physical triggers for and manifestations of various mental health conditions.

Research has helped us to understand more about the physiology of mental health. By studying the brain, behaviour and external triggers, we can learn more about the causes and consequences of these conditions and, in turn, better treat them.

Medical interventions have also progressed. For instance, the discovery of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) in the 1990s provided millions of people with more targeted and effective drugs to treat depression. SSRIs interact with a neurotransmitter called serotonin, and were a big step forward because they were designed ‘rationally’.

‘Rational’ or ‘intelligent’ drug design is a rapidly growing field that has fundamentally altered our approach to medicine. Existing drugs were largely designed through trial and error. Scientists carefully alter the chemistry of certain compounds and test their effects until they arrive at a drug that produces a therapeutic impact.

In many cases, this method of drug design works well. But because the drugs aren’t specifically targeted, they can also affect other processes in the body, leading to unwanted side effects. Side effects can accompany all sorts of medication, and are a longstanding issue with psychiatric drugs – enough to stop some people who need medication from taking it.

But now that we have the ability to ‘see’ molecules and atoms close up, we can study the function of tiny parts of the body, analyse microscopic structure and composition, and design drugs that precisely target these areas to produce an effect.

Whilst SSRIs were a big step forward for rationally designed psychiatric drugs, they’re still not as targeted as we would like, and side-effects are common. And so scientists are exploring the potential for more carefully targeted treatments for depression, using advanced tools and technology. By linking structure and function, and by designing drugs ‘rationally’, we have the potential to create a better outcome for the 25 per cent of us who experience mental health issues.

We are not powerless when it comes to our mental health. It’s not easy, and it never will be, but we are making progress; scientific, medical and cultural progress.

These conditions can be treated – but we have to be able to talk about it, to understand it, and to work together to make things better.