AOL Music – April 5, 2011

by Andrew Kerr

PA Photos

Adam Ant has spoken out against the use of anti-depressants which, according to the 80s pop icon, left him in “purgatory”. According to the singer they’re responsible for killing “the spirit” of people prescribed these “mind-altering drugs”. In order to tackle the issue, the 56-year-old believes he’ll have to become a “political animal”.

In an interview with  Music News,  the singer, who has battled mental health problems and twice been sectioned under the Mental Health Act, explained his position: “I feel there is a very, very serious, serious problem in this country, or any country, with anti-depressants, and it affects everybody.

He continued: “It surrounds itself by being a taboo and by being a sense of guilt and by governments just kind of like phoning it in and giving people very, very strong mind-altering drugs, prescribed because they don’t kill you but they certainly kill the spirit and they kill your mentality.”

Currently preparing for his comeback tour, the singer says it’s only a matter of time before he takes on the challenge of raising awareness about the negative aspects of anti-depressants.

“It’s my duty, when the time’s right, after I have finished doing what I do, which is making music, making money, to address that. But I don’t want to address it with people who can’t change it so therefore we have got to do it with politicians, so therefore I have to become a political animal.”

He concluded: “Purgatory, worse than hell, purgatory is happening right now, as we speak — it’s happening and I’ve experienced it and it’s wrong.”

http://music.aol.co.uk/2011/04/05/adam-ant-anti-depressants-campaign/