Kickboxer Andrew Tate slammed after claiming depression is not real
World title winner sparks social media fury after saying people labelled as depressed just 'pretend they caught some disease'
A KICKBOXER has been pummeled on social media for an outburst of tweets claiming depression is fake.
Infamous 2016 Big Brother contestant Andrew Tate, who has won International Sport Karate Association world titles, argued that most sufferers were just "unhappy" people "too lazy to change".
The England-based fighter known as 'King Cobra' said so-called depressed people "pretend they caught some disease to absolve all responsibility".
Illinois-born Tate's controversial barrage of tweets were instantly condemned as "dangerous" by social media users, who sent medical links and their own experiences of depression to refute his claims.
Fidget @lilfidget said Tate's opinions were "more than a tragedy" and "could cost lives".
She feared his comments would stop people getting help and explained her own depression has been controlled by "HELP and MEDICATION and THERAPY".
George Byrne Jr @GeorgeByrneJr said of Tate: "He's equating depr w/ sadness & then concluding that it's caused by bad attitude or weak character. Unfort this is a common misconception."
And Josh Peterson @jdpeterson tweeted this message to the 30-year-old: "Hi, I've never heard of you until tonight, but instead of being angry about your tweet, I'm just going to reply with some helpful links."
Josh then sent a series of articles including USA statistics describing "suicide as the 10th leading cause of death. More people die by suicide than from homicide".
Prof Vikas Shah @MrVikas asked Tate: "What the hell is wrong with you @Cobratate.. this is the kind of *dangerous* garbage that stops people getting the help they need."
Tate also made unsavoury headlines last year whe he was kicked off Channel 5's BB.
A video emerged of him whipping his girlfriend with a belt.
He dismissed this as playful fun but was then revealed as describing women who are not virgins as "used goods".
Now Tate has upset sports followers too.
His tweets attacking depression included the claim that "trillions" have been spent "giving anti depressant pills when all they need is a better diet, exercise and a life purpose".
He also queried how people could be depressed when others in war zones were not.
And he argued that depression is "not a clincial disease" - but just a label used to "absolve all responsibility" for feeling sad.
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