ADHD? Kids just like to run around, says Joss Stone
SINGER Joss Stone says the anxious and depressed should ‘hug a tree’ rather than take prescription drugs.
The 33-year-old came under fire after accusing pharmaceutical firms of making millions by attaching medical labels to those she said are just ‘upset’ and children who are simply energetic.
Miss Stone dismissed the condition ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) as ‘a lot of b*******’ and suggested people with depression can cure themselves by deciding ‘that’s not who they are’.
The comments on her new podcast, A Cuppa Happy, brought a backlash. TV psychologist Honey Langcaster-James branded her words as ‘dangerous’.
Miss Stone had said: ‘Here in America I notice they give a lot of drugs to children that are running around a lot. Kids will run around and break things and kick things so they take their kids to the doctor, and they’ll say, “Oh well, he’s got ADHD”. It’s a lot of b*******.
‘I just think, no, he has actually just got energy because he is a child.’
Admitting she sounds like a ‘conspiracy theorist’, said she was tired of hearing people say they had anxiety or depression and added that ‘it would be better if everybody would just go into nature and hug a tree and be happy and decide to feed your soul.
‘If somebody is upset about something it’s probably because something upsetting has happened. It’s not because you have this ailment that you need to take drugs for.
‘ That makes me sound incredibly insensitive but you have to decide that’s not who you are.’
Miss Langcaster- James hit back: ‘ Suggesting that a mental health condition which has been wellresearched and evidenced is not real can be detrimental to families and individuals who are affected.’
She said depression and anxiety were ‘very serious mental health disabilities... not something that anyone can just decide not to have’.
Medical professionals say ADHD is a neurological disorder causing symptoms such as inattentiveness, hyperactivity and impulsiveness.
Treatments include behaviour management, therapy and medication.
Charity ADHD Action says 1.5 million UK adults suffer but only 120,000 are diagnosed. TV stars Richard Bacon and Rory Bremner both have it.