I was 18 when I became a Tom Cruise fan. I sat in a college town movie theater in awe of his larger than life image on screen as Maverick, the fearless fighter pilot who lost his wingman and needed to regain his confidence in order to become Top Gun. The combination of cocky assurance and sensitive vulnerability left me, and many other young women, wishing we could marry Tom Cruise. Just as Katie Holmes dreamed when she was a teen.

Being a fan of Tom carried over into adulthood. As a journalist, I began interviewing other celebrities for various publications. It was easy for me to speak to famous people. Talking to Tom, however, I'm sure I would have been tongue-tied. Not that I could have – his former publicist, Pat Kingsley, made sure to keep Tom under tight wraps.

Then Tom dumped Nicole, and that was the beginning of the end of my fan-ness. It wasn't that their marriage ended – these things happen. It was the way he did it, and his stony replies to why he was leaving her didn't provide insight; rather, they cast blame on Nicole. But they moved on and so did I, with a shade less pigment on my rose-colored glasses.

Recently, Tom fired Pat Kingsley and now his sister, Lee Ann DeVette, acts as his publicist. Perhaps that's why he's flying around the world making a scene with Katie wherever he goes. Maybe that's why he attacked Matt Lauer on national television about the use of Ritalin in children. It also could be why he thinks he can criticize Brooke Shields for using medication and psychotherapy to overcome postpartum depression.

I have seen numerous women suffer from postpartum depression and be helped by therapy or medication. Research shows that up to 30 percent of all new mothers experience clinical depression and/or anxiety after childbirth. While the condition is not completely understood, most experts agree that postpartum depression involves a combination of hormonal, biochemical, environmental and psychosocial factors.

It is appalling that Tom would comment on a topic of such importance in this detrimental way. He needs to understand that his celebrity status may sway women to not treat their depression with anything but his prescribed plan of vitamins, diet and exercise, which could lead to serious consequences, including death. Is he ready to be held accountable for this?

Now Katie is engaged to Tom and rumor has it that he's already telling her which parts to accept and to decline, and she's being indoctrinated into Scientology, a subject he is passionate about. If Katie marries Tom and they have children together, I pray that Katie does not develop postpartum depression. With a husband who may not be sympathetic to her possible need for treatment, it could be a dangerous situation for mother and child.