High school dropout Tom Cruise pulled his Scientology obsessed, crazy train into New York this morning – his zombie virgin fiancee in tow – to grace Today show viewers with his his mastery of psychiatry…
- Cruise: No, you see. Here’s the problem. You don’t know the history of psychiatry. I do.
Lauer: Aren’t there examples, and might not Brooke Shields be an example, of someone who benefited from one of those drugs?
Cruise: All it does is mask the problem, Matt. And if you understand the history of it, it masks the problem. That’s what it does. That’s all it does. You’re not getting to the reason why. There is no such thing as a chemical imbalance.
Lauer: So, postpartum depression to you is kind of a little psychological gobbledygook —
Cruise: No. I did not say that.
Lauer: I’m just asking what you, what would you call it?
Cruise: No. No. Abso — Matt, now you’re talking about two different things.
Lauer: But that’s what she went on the antidepressant for.
Cruise: But what happens, the antidepressant, all it does is mask the problem. There’s ways, [with] vitamins and through exercise and various things… I’m not saying that that isn’t real. That’s not what I’m saying. That’s an alteration of what I’m saying. I’m saying that drugs aren’t the answer, these drugs are very dangerous. They’re mind-altering, antipsychotic drugs. And there are ways of doing it without that so that we don’t end up in a brave new world. The thing that I’m saying about Brooke is that there’s misinformation, okay. And she doesn’t understand the history of psychiatry. She doesn’t understand in the same way that you don’t understand it, Matt.Al Roker, of all people, thumps Cruise on the Today Show blog (proof that blogs are now in dangerous, Shark-jumping territory), Inside the Green Room.
You’re an actor, not a med student. But the best part about being American is that you can say whatever the heck you want in this country, as loopy and as goofy as it might sound.
And Josh, just ’cause you’ve had experience with a disorder, or with bad docs, doesn’t mean all of modern medicine is bad. Yes, there are all the bad things you speak of going on, but yes, there are plenty of good doctors, and well managed medical therapies that help people.
Patients are not totally dependant serfs under the autocratic rule of their physicians. In this day and age, you can get information from your primary care doc, or find a new one who can do so, as well as get second opinions from physicians or other providers, search the [gasp] library if not the internet for reliable information, and make your own decisions on how to manage problems with health and well being. Figuring out how to separate the wheat from the chaff can be vexing, but it can be done.
If you have the motivation and attention span to do so.
I can’t think of many sane docs that don’t promote a healthy diet, exercise routine and adequate sleep hygeine to any patient when they also prescribe medication.
However, the fact that most of our society is suffering from poor nutrition, lack of exercise, and is sleep deprived is explanation enough for the social and economic malaise we endure in our free society.
Eat a diet balanced in nutrients and varied [while avoiding toxins such as tobacco and alcohol], drink plenty of water, exercise your heart and muscles daily, and sleep about 8-8 1/2 hours a day, and whatever meds you take or don’t take you’ll do better. Attention to your spiritual self, be it old fashioned religion or new aged balderdash, is also an important to your health and well being.
Watching Tom Cruise or reading troll trash isn’t.
Where are all the scientists in Scientology???
How come it’s nothing but “entertainers”?
If Scientology is so scientific, bring out all the scientists who can show empirical data as to how alien souls got trapped in our bodies in the first place, and how Scientology fixes the problem.
L. Ron Hubbard was a science fiction writer. He was also a very intelligent con-man. But he was no scientist.
“Posted by: epador at June 25, 2005 11:25 AM
just ’cause you’ve had experience with a disorder, or with bad docs, doesn’t mean all of modern medicine is bad.”
Um, I said “OK, I painted with an overly broad brush in my post. I also can respect parents that try hard and end up giving stimulants to help with ADD/ ADHD. I am not against modern medicine or pharmacology in general”
So why the accusation? I said the same thing.
You said:
“Figuring out how to separate the wheat from the chaff can be vexing, but it can be done.
If you have the motivation and attention span to do so.”
Is that an insult? I’ll assume its not. I am for individual freedom. I was merely pointing out what I believe to be a systemic inbalance, an over emphasis in the value of these drugs
How am I troll trash for saying that?
“just ’cause you’ve had experience with a disorder”
What disorder is that? That I need excercise to function well? Its exactly what you just said. Or are you refering to the AA? Is it a disorder that my brain chemistry has a tendency to become dependent more easily than some? Or have I taken care of myself by noticing the problem and dealing with it?
I moderated my statement and I’m a troll for doing it?
I’m really not impressed with your post. I think you are the troll.
TOM CRUISE GREAT ACTOR BUT AN UNEDUCATED- IDIOT!
I always suspected that there was something SCREWY with Tom Cruise. Now it has been confirmed!
(Lucky Nicole got OUT OF THE MARRIAGE ..and thank god spanish hottie Penelope seen through his BULLSHIT too!)
Katie Holmes is no dummy, she will catch on but hopefully before she has kids with this jerk!
I agree with Andra about each case being individual. The number of kids on Ritalin does seem to indicate that perhaps there are some for whom dispensing pills is easier than actual parenting. BUT there are also many kids (and adults) who simply cannot function properly without medication and who is Tom Cruise or anyone else among us to make a blanket judgment like that? Maybe if he were able to get a woman pregnant and have to deal with watching her go through PPD he’d have a little more compassion. I have never been able to stand him, I have always thought he was an arrogant nutjob and a horrible actor, now I can add raging idiot to the list. Supposedly his own extra weird behavior is reportedly the result of coming off of ADD meds. Maybe that explains the sudden zealousness? I really hope he kills his career with this BS, I am so sick of seeing and hearing him. BTW, a friend was telling me about a show she saw that said Hubbard never meant for Scientology to be taken seriously, he just wanted to see if he could start a religion since people believe all kinds of nutty things, and it just took off. Has anyone else heard whether that is true or not?
Tom Cruise = Nut Job!
Katie Holmes = Blow Job!
Tom Cruise + Katie Holmes = A Nutty Blow Job!
Crazy Couples!
If high-school dropout Tom wants to play the knowledge game with Brooke Shields it would do him well to remember that she graduated from Princeton.
Dr. Cruise seems to be having a bit of a manic episode recently. Grandiosity, extreme moods, the burst of energy, lack of control, pressured speech, lack of insight/judgment, and other behavioral cues.
He claims no such thing as a chemical imbalance can exist. I’d like to see him attempt to exlpain the hard science, backed by hundreds of studies if not thousands, regarding dopamine and seratonin levels in the brain. These two brain chemicals, when at abnormal -imbalanced – levels, yield depression. When levels are brought back to normal, depression subsides.
As a 20+ year Scientologist, Cruise only has access to Scientology-approved texts about anything related to Scientology (including psychiatry). Anything promoting opposing views is strictly prohibited for “good” Scientologists. As a “good” Christian, Hindu or Jew, I’d be free to read anything I’d care to about my religion, regardless of whether the material promotes it or is harshly critical of it. Scientologists (and members of some other religious groups) do not have that latitude. As a result, all Cruise has been permitted to read about psychiatry for the last 20+ years is Scientology’s official “party line” on psychiatry, which is filled with misinformation, much of it being debunked in some press reports of his exchanges with reporters (Carl Jung, for example, was never an editor at a Nazi paper; Morphine was not originally called Adolphine for Adolph Hitler.)
Indeed, as one of Scientology’s highest profile practitioners in the world, and as one who has testified before the US Congress on behalf of the group, he’s a commodity who is probably more indoctrinated in the group’s core positions – especially PR positions, than the “average” Scientologist.
He believes he’s right because it’s all he’s been fed through his entire adult life. It doesn’t make it right, but he’s surrounded with either people who think alike, or people who won’t say ‘no’ to him so, from his perspective, it’s the general public that’s painfully misinformed and doesn’t understand.
In the clip I saw of the Matt Lauer interview, he seemed like a character in a movie of some kind of whistelblower no one understands, all alone and frustrated, trying to convince a stubborn, ignorant supervisor/boss/decision maker that he’s going to ruin everyone’s lives if he doesn’t agree with him NOW. The fact that Lauer had an opinion and anecdotal evidence was just not acceptable. Cruise was not open for a discussion. He needed control of the situation, and to convert Lauer to simple and immediate agreement on the spot. He grew increasingly anxious and aggressive as that failed to happen, and you could see that increase over seconds. He appeared to be physically agitated. And dare I say it… in serious need of an Ativan. Or two.
I feel sorry for Katie Holmes.
What ” – ” wrote (^^). And, yeah, I feel sympathy for Katie Holmes, too, who seems to have fallen victim to sensations and the misleading influences of her ongoing obsession. Unfortunately, without any ballast, it’s simple at her younger age to assume that that is “love.” It isn’t. Holmes will be “amazing” (her word) as long as Cruise remains “amazing.”
Further definitions can be disillusioning, and even destructive for some.
Here’s a little insight into Tom’s own mental state. It’s from a piece on radaronline.com. And, no, I am not making this up.
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The starry-eyed chaperone who’s been accompanying Katie Holmes to Batman Begins press junkets is not only an agent of Scientology—she’s a powerful one. According to an article from the sect’s in-house magazine, Source, Holmes’ new Church-assigned handler, Jessica Rodriguez, ascended to the level of “New Operating Thetan IV” (Tom Cruise is rumored to be New Operating Thetan VII) in January 2004. What the Heck does that mean?
According to sources close to the Church, it means she’s joined the elite group of Scientologists who’ve been enlightened with the six-figure secrets of Xenu, the evil intergalactic ruler who implanted “thetans,” or alien spirits, in earth’s volcanoes 75 million years ago, after which they escaped and invaded human bodies. As a “New OT IV,” Rodriguez has the power to, “control life, thought, matter, energy, space, and time,” according to Scientology’s official web site. Having completed the Church’s “False Purpose Rundown,” Katie’s spiritual escort also has the ability to spot any “suppressive persons” (read: enemies of Scientology, like skeptical journalists and concerned friends and family members) who interact with her celebrity charge.
Yep. According to Scientology’s website, this woman “has the power to, “control life, thought, matter, energy, space, and time….”” And Tom Cruise is two levels higher than she is. Who knows what he thinks he can control.
Does anybody honestly believe ANYONE has the power to control life, thought, matter, energy, space and time beyond their own? AND if YOU said this with a straight face, wouldn’t it sound psychotic?
Throwing drugs at problems indiscrimately is no solution, but neither is throwing aliens at them. Common sense and a considered diagnosis is essential.
Consider this : General Practioners are bombarded by drug reps sent by manufacturers to pitch their prescription drugs, often in a misleading fashion. OxyContin is an excellent example, unfortunately – this drug, made for severe pain such as that in end-stage cancer, was marketed to general practitioners who were not especially conversant with extra-strong pain meds as being for mild to moderate pain. Additionally, this medication, with THE SAME addicition profile as morphine was promoted for several years as being virtually NON-ADDICTIVE by the manufacturer in spite of their knowing the truth. As a result, instead of being sold to a relatively small market segment, OxyContin became one of the largest selling pain meds in the nation for several years and a multi-billion dollar blockbuster drug. These facts came out repeatedly in several unconnected investigations around the country.) Most of the general practitioners, because they were not specialists, just took the word of the drug reps, and prescribed accordingly.
If you can, in the case of depression, a psychiatrist is preferable to a general practitioner for psychiatric medications as they work with them every day and really do know what they do and don’t do, where a general practioner can’t be expected to have the same level of knowledge.
Also, with ADD and ADHD, apparently the full diagnosing procedure is long , difficult and quite specialized. It’s not easy and a lot of doctors do prescribe without the full diagnostic procedure. For anyone unsure about a diagnosis or whether a prescription is correct, the best bet is to find a specialist who has the skills and tools to do a comprehensive screening in order to arrive at a solid diagnosis. Managed care has created a lot of “drive through” doctor’s appointments and consequently a lot of sped up diagnoses that serve neither the patient nor the doctor, many of whom would probably prefer to have more time to spend to reach a conclusion.
Still, a 75 million year old alien is not the answer.
Josh, you’re a good guy. I figured you didn’t mean in such broad strokes what you wrote.
There is some merit in questioning/examing the explosion of Ritalin. Child psych isn’t my field by choice, but it is a compelling and controversial issue that males are so grossly over diagnosed with ADD/ADHD. Are we medicating young males for normal behavior that just comes naturally to them in grade school – more gross motor than fine motor skills versus their female counterparts?
and throwing drugs which act on all neurons mediated by a given neurotransmitter is, in many ways, a “dark ages” approach.
Give me a break. We are far more advanced than Freud’s schizoaphrenicogenic mother model where mom’s alleged cold behavior was the root of schizophrenia. Psychiatry isn’t perfect. The brain is the last frontier in medicine.
Here’s something interesting about Cruise’s performance with Matt Lauer – he was using Scientology techniques in “communicating” and attempting to almost forcibly refocus Lauer and master the conversation (as instructed below), and that even included his posture, the way he was leaning into Lauer, as well as the intensity of the eye contact, as you’ll see. It is described beow as a technique designed to increase tension. (It’s a religion, right??)
The following is a critique incorporating part of the entry level “Success Through Communications” Course – excerpt below found at http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Secrets/TR/hqs-course.html
___________
….. from Hubbard Qualified Scientologist Course, by L. Ron Hubbard, p. 155. Copyright © 1988 by the L. Ron Hubbard Library. Reproduced under the “fair use” provision of the US copyright code.
Although the TRs when sold at the introductory level are supposed to facilitate “communication”, by TR 4 it becomes clear that the real goal is preparation for learning “auditing” — and for being audited.
This image from the HQS book is the fourth in a sequence illustrating the TR 4 drill known as “Preclear Originations”. The student auditor (the woman) has asked the auditing question “Do fish swim?” and been told in response by the coach, simulating a preclear, “I have a pain in my stomach.” She dismisses (Scientologists would say “acknowledges”) this “preclear origination” with “I understand”, and then, as shown above, repeats the auditing question. She must persist in this manner until the preclear has answered the question. In the figure she is displaying good “confront” (TR 0) by staring directly at the preclear and remaining motionless as she repeats the question. (There are drawings shown on the site – she is leaning forward)
One wonders about the smiles on the particpants’ faces; in the previous panels the preclear has a pained expression as he describes his stomach ache, and the auditor is shown with an even sorrier looking “mental picture” of his distress as she acknowledges (in reality, dismisses) his comment. The subtext in this last panel seems to be this: by forcibly refocusing the preclear’s attention on adherence to Scientology ritual, his stomach pain is alleviated and he is made happy again. (This is in fact the rationale behind Scientology “assists”.)
It’s also worth noting the violation of norms for personal space inherent in the positioning of the student and coach in the image, a technique designed to increase tension (and especially effective with partners of mixed gender.)
Oh come on, Lauer was just trying to bait him. Cruise showed him up as a know-nothing talking head. No wonder he has to carry Katie’s coffee for her.
Suffers of ADD/ADHD have less electrical activity in the frontal lobe of the brain where the inhibition function is located. Less electical activity means less blood flow… means less development. The brain is literally becomes, over time, immature in this area. This key area of inhibition– where you decide (if you’re normal) whether or not to respond to a stimulus, rather than necessarily attending to the next bright shiney object or thought–where you make hundreds of decisions everyday–decisions from which people gain a sense of self. That’s what it means to have untreated ADD/ADHD. But Ritalin brings electrical activity to near normal levels. The blood flows. The brain develops. Tom Cruise knows things? Like what? Good God. Certainly not how to lovingly parent a child with ADD/ADHD. And shame on him for shaming loving parents of children of a serious, and sometimes debilitating disorder.
Tom Cruise fits the profile of the unfortunate ones who fall prey to “religious” cults. He has shown himself to be a relatively uneducated, naive, and narrow-minded person who suffers from low self-esteem issues. I am glad that Matt was able to provoke Tom on the Today show. What was left of Mr. Cruise’s carefully cultivated public personna dropped out of view, and people could see the evidence of what immersion into Scientology’s philosophy can do to a person. It’s scary to think that otherwise stable people really believe the theories of a science fiction writer and turn away from open-minded, rational debate on serious issues taking the absolutist, “my way or the highway” approach…rather like terrorists who attacked our country on 9/11. It is even scarier to think of the potentially wide=reaching damage wrought by Mr. Cruise’s opinions about psychiatry and psychiatric drug therapy. While it is very important to debate and consider whether any proven, scientifically-based (and science is not perfect or absolute either), medical therapy is appropriate to use on oneself or one’s child, but it is not OK to take such a close-minded approach such as Mr. Cruise does. He is apparently incapable of thinking for himself outside of what the Scientologists tell him. Katie Holmes’ family needs to consider staging an intervention quickly before the daughter they know fades away into someone else…sculpted by this dangerous and intimidating cult.
#1. when Tom Cruise is perfect he can lecture the rest of us – if Tom were real smart he’d have noticed Katie darling has a bad habit of getting engaged on the drop of the hat and dropping the finance at about the same speed, but then again, if they have an arrangement he likely doesn’t care – besides anyone who treated Nicole Kidman the way that man did is in my a-hole book
#2. anyone who joins that Scientology cult has quite the nerve discussing issues of mental illnesses as if he is an expert
#3. no drugs are not always the answer and we do live in a society that is quick to go to pharmaceuticals, esp drs, rather than do a full review of all factors that can affect health, like diet and exercise etc however the reality is there are some chemical imbalances in life that cannot be cured or not completely cured by diet and exercise and to belittle those people who suffer from those illnesses in fact takes us back to the middle ages, when they would burn epileptics as witches – would Mr. Cruise like to suggest all epileptics need a good personal trainer and nutritionist?
#4 someone got it right, it’s like old Tom is off his meds and someone needs to put him back on it
#5 of course the more simple explanation is that Tom has always been off his rocker but now that his sister is his PR person, he’s been let out of the cage, I think he needs to get his old publicist back or did Nicole get her in the divorce?
. According to Scientology’s website, this woman “has the power to, “control life, thought, matter, energy, space, and time….”” And Tom Cruise is two levels higher than she is. Who knows what he thinks he can control.
Obviously not a squirting microphone. That guy is lucky Tom didn’t kill him with his mind as level VII’s are supposed to be able to do easily.
Well, what do you expect from anyone who’s studying under Ron Hubbard who has an underground unit that includes people like Manson, Son of Sam, et al?
Cindy
… as for Brooke Shields:
Brooke, you are an idiot and a hypocrite.
According to PEOPLE Magazine, she said:
“I agree with him (Tom) about his feeling on prescribing drugs to kids. We are in accord …I don’t think Ritalin should be prescribed to kids. Postpartum depression is a different matter. I think I’m more qualified to talk about that (than he is.)
Brooke, what the hell do you know about Ritalin Dr. Shields?
The rumor / conspiracy mill in tinseltown believes tommy boy was being pressured by his “church” to pony up more of his earnings to them using dirt they have on him as leverage, meaning threatening to expose his true sexual orientation to the public which in turn would damage his box office appeal as an action star. Coincidence? You decide …that he’s going over the top at every opportunity to express his “love” for a relatively obscure B list actress (soon to be A list thanks to Tom ‘ala’ Nicole K.) that’s he’s known for less than two months. And how interesting that all of a sudden he’s become very vocal about his “church” and his opinions on psychiatry, which coincide with his “church’s” teachings. One would be surprised at the “rumors” one hears when he or she is actually in the Industry. That’s what happens when a young, unknown actor makes a deal with the Devil.
If Tom is a “Thetan VII” and has the ability to “control time, space, thought, etc” why was there ever an argument with Matt Lauer in the first place? Shouldn’t he have been able to use his powers to immediately overtake the minds of everyone watching, especially that of Matt and cause them to see and accept his points?
If Scientology is so correct in their views, why wont they provide proof of anything they believe in?
Seems to me if someone thinks they found the meaning of life they would want to openly and passionately share it with the rest of the world. Instead Scientology is full of secrets and passive existence. What rubbish.