Alyson Stoner is taking the trauma they endured as a child actor and helping other kids take control of their mental health.
The Disney Channel star recently opened up about their work as an on-set mental health coordinator, which they hope to see normalized along the lines of intimacy coordinators, noting that mental health resources are important “not just for kids in Hollywood, but also kids online.”
Having performed since age 8, Stoner recalled to The Guardian they eventually “could no longer feel emotions, let alone portray them,” leading to a diagnosis with alexithymia, a difficulty in identifying emotions.
Stoner explained the disorder was “a response to accidentally traumatising myself on all of these auditions, and following the guidance of adults who had acting manuals that encouraged it.”
Calling child stardom the “toddler to train-wreck pipeline,” Stoner recounts their adolescent experience in the industry in their new memoir Semi-Well-Adjusted Despite Literally Everything.
“My intention is less focused on trying to name, shame and blame individuals, and more to empower people with information,” they explained. “I’m choosing to believe that once we know more and know better, we will choose better, especially for children.”
Making their onscreen debut as the co-host of Disney Channel’s Mike’s Super Short Show in 2001, Stoner went on to appear in episodes of The Suite Life of Zack & Cody and That’s So Raven, as well as the Cheaper by the Dozen and Camp Rock movies. Outside of Disney, Stoner appeared in Drake & Josh, the Step Up franchise and multiple Missy Elliott music videos.
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