Tom Cruise might claim to know a lot about psychiatry, but he would be wise to steer clear of a career in psychology. His recent, insensitive comments about Brooke Shields using the anti-depressant Paxil for her post-partum depression were misguided, to say the least. In fact, it almost made me change my mind about the exploits of the photographers who squirted him last week at the UK premiere of War of the Worlds. Perhaps he should spend less time on red carpet walkabouts and take an online psychology degree instead.
On his never ending promo tour for War of the Worlds, Tom Cruise suggested last month on Access Hollywood that Shields’ use of Paxil as "misguided". He asked what had happened to her career (um - didn't she have a child?) and suggested she should have used vitamins instead.
I would not pretend to be an expert on psychiatry, counseling psychology or any area of mental health, and I was also lucky enough not to suffer PPD after any of my three children. I would therefore never presume to make such crass, ill-informed comments. I would have hoped that a Hollywood actor who has lived 20 years out of the real world, and never fathered a child naturally, would feel the same. Sadly, with Tom, this was not the case.
Neither a psychological evaluation nor a career in psychology should be taken lightly. Professionals in counseling psychology and clinical psychology spend literally years of training so that they can work with and try to rehabilitate patients going through depression, trauma and other conditions. It is up to doctors, psychiatrists and psychologists to work with a patient to diagnose their condition and suggest routes through the problem. Pretending to save your children from aliens in front of a camera does not really qualify you to make judgement on others in this way.
Likewise, we have to hope that Brooke Shields has taken a lot of advice from psychology professionals while writing her book on her experiences of Post Partum Depression, and anti-depressants, Down Came the Rain. The cult of celebrity seems to have driven many unqualified professionals to enter the route of training and writing. Pamela Stevenson, wife of comedian Billy Connelly, on the other hand, abandoned acting and undertook a psychology degree. Now a psychologist, we can be confident that she knows what she is talking about. While Tom Cruise is entitled to his opinion, just as we are about War of the Worlds, he would be wise to keep his judgement on such sensitive issues to himself. Leave it to the professionals Tom and, please, if they suggest Mission Impossible 3, take an online psychology degree instead!
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