- The former BBC journalist said the children may simply be struggling with their emotions.
We shouldn’t be so quick to diagnose children with ADHD because such “labels” can be “debilitating”, Kate Silverton said.
The newsreader turned children’s therapist warned against putting children on treatment for ADHD prematurely because they might simply struggle to deal with difficult emotions.
Addressing the cause of their behavior and emotional distress is more helpful than simply lumping it under a “generic” term to explain it, she said.
The former BBC journalist, 53, who appeared on Strictly Come Dancing in 2018, changed careers after completing a degree in child psychology and is now a qualified children’s counsellor.
“I know for parents it’s terribly distressing when their children behave in ways that they just don’t understand,” she said on Ferne Cotton’s Happy Place podcast.
We shouldn’t be so quick to diagnose children with ADHD because such ‘labels’ can be ‘debilitating’, said Kate Silverton (pictured).
The newsreader turned child therapist has warned against putting children on treatment for ADHD prematurely because they may simply struggle to deal with difficult emotions (file photo)
“Let’s not think of kids as having a problem, but there’s something that’s making them anxious, and once we can address that, a lot of these big behaviors will go away.”
She added: “My message really is: let’s try to lose the labels if we can.”
Ms Silverton said that while it can be reassuring for parents to have a solid diagnosis for their child, it can be “debilitating for children” and, as a result, “people expect too much of them or don’t don’t expect as many.”
She said: “Let’s work with our children with what they shine at to start.
“If kids are behaving in a dysregulated way, let’s not look at that as a symptom of ADHD, let’s look at it as a symptom of emotional dysregulation – we can work with that.”
Mrs Silverton, mother of Clemency, 12, and Wilbur, ten, with husband Mike Heron, said we were doing our children a “great disservice” if we don’t “stop and look at the reasons” why they behave inappropriately. certain way.
“Until the science is more advanced, we can’t say with certainty that someone definitely has what’s called ADHD, it’s not even a medical problem… It’s a description, a generic term,” she said.
She added: “I want to know that these children are seen and heard and not just put on treatment. »
