Tom Cruise called 'misguided' over drugs comments

Jun 29, 2005, 12:23 GMT

Sydney - Hollywood actor Tom Cruise was labelled "reckless" and "dangerous" by Australian mental health experts Wednesday for denying the value of anti-depressant drugs.

Cruise, whose former father-in-law Antony Kidman is a respected Sydney psychologist, said last week that people who took anti-depressants were misguided.

Cruise, whose former wife is Australian Oscar-winner Nicole Kidman, made the comments during interviews to promote his latest film "War of the Worlds".

"It is reckless and potentially dangerous of Mr. Cruise to make uninformed comments about the treatment of mental illness," Sane Australia director Barbara Hocking told Australia's AAP news agency.

Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) president Julian Freidin also criticised the film star, saying anti-depressant drugs had been scientifically proven to be an effective treatment for people with mood disorders.

Sane Australia and the RANZCP released a joint statement entitled: Psychiatric medication: Tom Cruise's "Mission Irresponsible".

The American Psychiatric Association has also come out against comments by Cruise.