so I never suffered from any sort of attraction for him, and really, in my day to day life, 'Tom Cruise' rarely comes up.
I heard somewhere once that he and his "religion" Scientology were against drugs and the practice of psychiatry, but it was hearsay and I didn't really pay much attention besides a passing irritation. But then I read this...
"Let me tell you something: it is not a cure and it is actually lethal. These drugs are dangerous... There is a hormonal thing that is going on that is...scientifically, you can prove that. But when you talk about emotional chemical imbalances in people, there is no science behind that."
Brooke Shields, with whom Tom co-starred in "Endless Love," recently wrote a book about her own bout with post-partum depression following the birth of her daughter, Rowan. She wrote about the drug treatment that helped her through it.
"Look at her life," counters Tom. "Here is a woman - and I care about Brooke Shields because I think she is incredibly talented - (but) you look at where has her career gone? It has helped her. When someone says it has helped them, it is to cope. It didn't cure anything. There is no science. There is nothing that can cure them whatsoever."
Tom was asked if he meant drugs had cost Shields her career.
"Well, you look at people," he said, trailing off...."Look - is she happy? Is she really happy?"
Tom went on to say, "What you can do with vitamins and exercise to help a woman through that, to help someone through that, all right. She doesn't know what these drugs are and for her to promote it is irresponsible. And I wish her well in life. (But) it is irresponsible to do that."
...from an interview on Access Hollywood (by the way, Billy Bush: Spectacular Douche or Mega Douche?) and I sputtered incoherently for a few minutes longer than my usual daily incoherent sputtering.
Now, I do believe that anti-depressants and drugs like Ritalin are over prescribed, but I DO NOT discount the practice of psychiatry or the responsible use of anti-depressants and anti-psychotics. As a diagnosed manic-depressive who has been on medication for 10 years, I can honestly say that vitamins would probably not do much for me. Would some vitamin C or St. John's Wort have kept me from trying to kill myself? Err...no, I don't think so.
Tom Cruise is wholly irresponsible for going around spouting that kind of stuff to an impressionable and ignorant public. In a perfect world, people would weigh their options and make informed decisions and my opinion or your opinion or Tom Cruise's opinion wouldn't mean anything. However, we do not live in a perfect world. Some people will hear him and believe him and make choices for themselves and their families that could have negative repercussions in the future.
Sometimes medication isn't the right option. After all, pills won't make your life suck less and pills shouldn't be used to keep children from being children (i.e., annoying). But, there are times when the responsible use of medication IS warranted. People should approach their health, mental and physical, the same way they'd approach buying a new car. Do some research. Find out what the treatments and options are. Work WITH your physician. Get a second opinion if you're uncomfortable with suggested treatments. It's your health, you should never comprimise and you should go into any treatment with open eyes.
For example, I have acne. Not severe, but bad enough to send me to a dermatologist. He suggested Accutane. I actually read the info and did some research of my own and I was frankly uncomfortable with the side effects and, I didn't feel that my acne was severe enough to warrant such an aggressive treatment. I told him I was interested in other options. He continued to push Accutane. I finally told him flat out, NO. Eventually, I switched doctors and my new dermatologist agreed that Accutane was a bit too aggressive for my condition. It's a very serious drug and frankly, I wonder about a doctor who pushes such a hardcore drug for a relatively minor case of acne.
Ahem. Sorry, this turned into quite a sermon. It started out as a simple 'fuck-you' to Tom Cruise and then I went off on a tangent. But really, what do you expect, I'm a librarian. Information is my life. I honestly believe that people should have a handle on their lives and should keep informed in all aspects of their world.
Information rocks! Wooo!
[ED: It took me a day to get this thing posted. Cripes, people, shouldn't you all be out partying instead of sitting at home writing in your blogs? I'm the only uncool person here, dammit!]
