Jon Gosselin says independent psychiatrists have evaluated his son Collin and found claims that he’s mentally ill to be false. His October 15 statement followed Kate Gosselin’s reference to “mental illness” on TikTok as their 22-year-old son’s memoir detailed allegations of childhood abuse.

Jon Gosselin said, “The days of using mental health to discredit and silence my son are over.”

“Repeating false claims about his mental health is damaging to his reputation, his credibility and his future,” Jon said. He didn’t name the person or people his warning addressed.

Earlier that week, Kate had replied to a supportive commenter: “I know rational logical [people] or anyone who has dealt with mental illness understands what’s going on here. I had nothing to do with it.” She’s consistently denied wrongdoing.

In In the Shadow of Eight: Surviving the Reality of My Childhood, Collin alleges that Kate abused him physically and emotionally, with her treatment worsening when he resisted appearing on the family’s TLC series. He also says she had him admitted to a psychiatric hospital and kept his location from Jon.

Collin recalled that Kate visited him when he was 12, roughly a year into his stay, and remained for about 20 minutes. He says she told him, “Collin, you destroyed our family.”

Jon learned where Collin was and removed him from the hospital in 2018. When father and son reconnected, Collin says, they discovered they’d received conflicting explanations for their separation.

Collin had been told his father wanted nothing to do with him; Jon had been told Collin didn’t want visits. Collin hadn’t known Jon was going to court and trying to find him.

Following Jon and Kate’s 2009 divorce, Collin and his sister Hannah eventually went to live with their father. Collin says rebuilding his relationship with Jon took time as they learned how to connect again.

“We worked on that, and now we’re closer than ever. Good things take time,” Collin said.

His memoir is available online and in bookstores.