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When celebrities act weird everyone becomes an armchair psychologist. Most recently, everyone seems to be weighing in on Charlie Sheen. Is his recent behavior a by-product of addiction, mania, bipolar disorder, or something else? And what's up with the report about Lindsay Lohan stealing jewelry? Why would a wealthy Hollywood star shoplift? Is it due to addiction? A personality disorder? A cry for help or attention? While it is tempting for psychologists (and other mental health professionals among others) to offer a diagnosis and treatment plan for these and others celebrities acting badly or oddly it is best to not scratch that itch. Here's why....
We all have lots of theories as to why people do what they do (especially those most notable in the press). Charlie Sheen, Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, Mel Gibson, Tiger Wood, so many politicians to choose from among others. Psychologists and other mental health professionals certainly may offer thoughtful reflections on what is going on with notable people doing or saying strange things. Yet, our ethical principles and code of conduct suggest that we need to be very careful to not diagnoses or plan treatment from afar for those whom we do not know. A complete and accurate diagnosis and treatment plan isn't possible without a comprehensive one-on-one evaluation and even if a mental health professional did have access to the person in question to do an evaluation they couldn't talk about it due to both laws and ethics about maintaining confidentiality.
So, what is a psychologist to do? Certainly one can use press reports of celebrity behavior as a springboard to talk in general and educational terms about psychological and behavioral challenges (such as those associated with addictions). The public can learn much about psychology and behavior from psychologists and other mental health professionals without trying to diagnosis or treat someone from afar.
So, in the case of Charlie Sheen as an example, one might discuss his behaviors and troubles in more general terms such as how addictions might impact family members as well as public behavior. Additionally, one might reflect on how grandiose and odd statements could be made due to a wide variety of issues such as those associated with a manic episode, a narcissistic personality disorder, addictions, or other issues but be very careful not to diagnosis (or offer treatment plans) for the person in question.
In a nutshell, when one carefully reviews the ethics codes for all of the mental health professions, the following 5 virtues or values inform all that we say and do: respect, responsibility, integrity, competence, and concern. They can be easily remembered by using the first letter of each word, RRICC. These 5 important words must guide all of our actions. Thus, when discussing the troubles of celebrities we need to be respectful, discuss only things that we are competent to discuss, be responsible not to overstep our knowledge base, and to most especially have concern for all those involved. A good rule of thumb not only for mental health professionals but perhaps for everyone.
Curiously, while our economy struggles and both the Middle East and northern Africa seem to be rapidly imploding, the press seems to mostly focus on the odd behaviors of a few Hollywood stars. Social comparison theory might suggest that we enjoy and attend to this in order to feel better about our own less exciting, less wealthy, and less glamorous lives or to distract ourselves from the reality of our own lives and troubles. Regardless of the reasons for such laser beam focus, doing the right thing means not getting overly engaged in the lives of these celebrities and to use helpful ethical principles when discussing them.
What do you think?
