Brook Shields bashes Tom Cruise in NY Times

From The New York Times
July 1, 2005
War of Words
By BROOKE SHIELDS
London

I WAS hoping it wouldn't come to this, but after Tom Cruise's interview with Matt Lauer on the NBC show 'Today' last week, I feel compelled to speak not just for myself but also for the hundreds of thousands of women who have suffered from postpartum depression. While Mr. Cruise says that Mr. Lauer and I do not 'understand the history of psychiatry,' I'm going to take a wild guess and say that Mr. Cruise has never suffered from postpartum depression.

Postpartum depression is caused by the hormonal shifts that occur after childbirth. During pregnancy, a woman's level of estrogen and progesterone greatly increases; then, in the first 24 hours after childbirth, the amount of these hormones rapidly drops to normal, nonpregnant levels. This change in hormone levels can lead to reactions that range from restlessness and irritability to feelings of sadness and hopelessness.

I never thought I would have postpartum depression. After two years of trying to conceive and several attempts at in vitro fertilization, I thought I would be overjoyed when my daughter, Rowan Francis, was born in the spring of 2003. But instead I felt completely overwhelmed. This baby was a stranger to me. I didn't know what to do with her. I didn't feel at all joyful. I attributed feelings of doom to simple fatigue and figured that they would eventually go away. But they didn't; in fact, they got worse.

I couldn't bear the sound of Rowan crying, and I dreaded the moments my husband would bring her to me. I wanted her to disappear. I wanted to disappear. At my lowest points, I thought of swallowing a bottle of pills or jumping out the window of my apartment.

I couldn't believe it when my doctor told me that I was suffering from postpartum depression and gave me a prescription for the antidepressant Paxil. I wasn't thrilled to be taking drugs. In fact, I prematurely stopped taking them and had a relapse that almost led me to drive my car into a wall with Rowan in the backseat. But the drugs, along with weekly therapy sessions, are what saved me - and my family.

Since writing about my experiences with the disease, I have been approached by many women who have told me their stories and thanked me for opening up about a topic that is often not discussed because of fear, shame or lack of support and information. Experts estimate that one in 10 women suffer, usually in silence, with this treatable disease. We are living in an era of so-called family values, yet because almost all of the postnatal focus is on the baby, mothers are overlooked and left behind to endure what can be very dark times.

And comments like those made by Tom Cruise are a disservice to mothers everywhere. To suggest that I was wrong to take drugs to deal with my depression, and that instead I should have taken vitamins and exercised shows an utter lack of understanding about postpartum depression and childbirth in general.

If any good can come of Mr. Cruise's ridiculous rant, let's hope that it gives much-needed attention to a serious disease. Perhaps now is the time to call on doctors, particularly obstetricians and pediatricians, to screen for postpartum depression. After all, during the first three months after childbirth, you see a pediatrician at least three times. While pediatricians are trained to take care of children, it would make sense for them to talk with new mothers, ask questions and inform them of the symptoms and treatment should they show signs of postpartum depression.

In a strange way, it was comforting to me when my obstetrician told me that my feelings of extreme despair and my suicidal thoughts were directly tied to a biochemical shift in my body. Once we admit that postpartum is a serious medical condition, then the treatment becomes more available and socially acceptable. With a doctor's care, I have since tapered off the medication, but without it, I wouldn't have become the loving parent I am today.

So, there you have it. It's not the history of psychiatry, but it is my history, personal and real.

Brooke Shields, the author of 'Down Came the Rain: My Journey Through Postpartum Depression,' isstarring in the musical 'Chicago' in London.

Re: Brook Shields bashes Tom Cruise in NY Times

Go Brooke!

Tom Cruise needs to get off crack, it is whack!

Re: Brook Shields bashes Tom Cruise in NY Times

CAN'T STAND Tom Cruise anymore! he's such a putz!

I am SO glad she rebutted his @ssinine comment. he's clueless

Re: Brook Shields bashes Tom Cruise in NY Times

Brooke is AWESOME! I did suffer from PPD and I can tell you it was a chore to get up and open the blinds. I just sat... It took everything in me to take care of my son. I did feel an attachment and LOVED him to pieces unlike how Brooke felt, but I was sooo depressed.

I'm glad she spoke out. I watched Oprah and was surprised how bad she got, but shes better now

Re: Brook Shields bashes Tom Cruise in NY Times

Tom Cruise is turning into a crazy old eccentric!

Re: Brook Shields bashes Tom Cruise in NY Times

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Posted by nferrandi

Tom Cruise is turning into a crazy old eccentric!

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turning into? I think he has turned already!

Re: Brook Shields bashes Tom Cruise in NY Times

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While Mr. Cruise says that Mr. Lauer and I do not 'understand the history of psychiatry,' I'm going to take a wild guess and say that Mr. Cruise has never suffered from postpartum depression.

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I love that part!!!
Go Brooke!!!

Re: Brook Shields bashes Tom Cruise in NY Times

omigod i heard the tom cruise interviw with lauer on xm satellite with opie and anthony...they were ripping on him like u wont believe, what an a$$...GO BROOKE!!!!!

Chrissy

Re: Brook Shields bashes Tom Cruise in NY Times

So glad she did this! As a mental health professional who does not like using adjunctive drugs but KNOWS that sometimes it is ABSOLUTELY necessary, it pisses me off to no end...the other day one of my professors said in reference to TOm Cruise's craziness...to be a great actor you need poor ego strength, having poor ego strength means you can't distinguish well b/t fantasy and reality...

Re: Brook Shields bashes Tom Cruise in NY Times

I hate Tom Cruise, and now I am not the only one.

Re: Brook Shields bashes Tom Cruise in NY Times

What a great comeback!! Tom Cruise gets stranger with every interview he does maybe he should be checked for some kind of vitamin overdose that has made him insane.

Re: Brook Shields bashes Tom Cruise in NY Times

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Posted by Capulet72

What a great comeback!! Tom Cruise gets stranger with every interview he does maybe he should be checked for some kind of vitamin overdose that has made him insane.

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Re: Brook Shields bashes Tom Cruise in NY Times

Well Tom Cruise says he doesn't belive in that there is such a think as chemical imbalances... so what is happening to him?

Re: Brook Shields bashes Tom Cruise in NY Times

What did Tom Cruise say in the interview?

Re: Brook Shields bashes Tom Cruise in NY Times

Maybe he suffers from Anne Heche disease...Maybe aliens have taken over his mind, Im not sure I'd have to check with GNC but I dont think they make a vitamin for that, and I dont know what kind of exercise you would do for such a thing, I'll have to Google the situation and let you guys know

Re: Brook Shields bashes Tom Cruise in NY Times

Go Brooke! Tom Cruise is a fool! His 'religion' was founded by a former science fiction author who decided to form a religion because that's where the $$$$ was. True story.

Re: Brook Shields bashes Tom Cruise in NY Times

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Posted by italgrkwedding

What did Tom Cruise say in the interview?

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he basically said that he is very disappointed in Brooke for taking drugs and not dealing with her postpartum naturally.

what a jack@ss!

ETA: and to think that I used to have posters of him in my bedroom when I was in HS. (lol)
I never thought he would turn out to be such an idiot.

Re: Brook Shields bashes Tom Cruise in NY Times

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Posted by dleeny

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Posted by italgrkwedding

What did Tom Cruise say in the interview?

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he basically said that he is very disappointed in Brooke for taking drugs and not dealing with her postpartum naturally.

what a jack@ss!

ETA: and to think that I used to have posters of him in my bedroom when I was in HS. (lol)
I never thought he would turn out to be such an idiot.

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Like he would ever understand!!!!!

Re: Brook Shields bashes Tom Cruise in NY Times

He needs to just close his mouth and just stand in front of a mirror in his tighty whities...thats really all he is good for

Re: Brook Shields bashes Tom Cruise in NY Times

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Posted by italgrkwedding

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Posted by dleeny

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Posted by italgrkwedding

What did Tom Cruise say in the interview?

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he basically said that he is very disappointed in Brooke for taking drugs and not dealing with her postpartum naturally.

what a jack@ss!

ETA: and to think that I used to have posters of him in my bedroom when I was in HS. (lol)
I never thought he would turn out to be such an idiot.

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Like he would ever understand!!!!!

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when he first said that, Brooke made a public statement and said 'Tom should stick to saving the world from aliens' I was