[Katydidit34]

I just finished watching the Today show interview that Matt Lauer did with Tom Cruise. I'm quite simply mystified by his take on psychiatry. He claims to know more about it than just about anyone, including those with medical degrees. I'm just curious about what others think about his vocal opinion on the subject. Am I crazy or does HE need a psychiatrist?

[HealthyRN]

Well, he is entitled to his opinion. However, I can't imagine why a national news program would dedicate a significant amount of time for an actor, and not an authority on the subject, to discuss his personal views on psychiatry and religion. Aren't there more important things going on in the world? The war in Iraq gets less than two minutes of attention every morning on the Today Show, but Tom Cruise rambles on about Brooke Shields and the evilness of taking psychiatric medications for about ten minutes. It just doesn't seem quite right. Personally, I don't really care about the views of Tom Cruise. He's obviously doing this for publicity and to further his own causes (scientology).

[Nurse Ratched]

I didn't see the interview. Celebs have as much right as anyone to express their opinions, however they certainly have a much wider audience to same. It would be a shame if anyone failed to get needed psychiatric care due to the addition of any more stigma than already surrounds it. I'm going to try and credit the public with more brains than that, but one never knows.

(On a side note: I will ask everyone that this not turn into a "bash Scientology" thread, regardless of anyone's opinion of it. One such thread with the same topic already had to be locked. Please try and keep discussion pertinent to the topic of psych nursing. Thanks in advance.)

[grannynurse FNP student]

Originally Posted by Katydidit34

I just finished watching the Today show interview that Matt Lauer did with Tom Cruise. I'm quite simply mystified by his take on psychiatry. He claims to know more about it than just about anyone, including those with medical degrees. I'm just curious about what others think about his vocal opinion on the subject. Am I crazy or does HE need a psychiatrist?

While he is entitled to his views, I think that Lauer attempted to get him to explain the rational bases for his beliefs, something Tom failed to do. And Lauer did challenge his position that no one is helped by medications and psychiatry is all vedoo(?) science. The problem is that there will always be some who will cite his position. Does he need a psychiatrist? He couldn't lose if he had some help.

Grannynurse

[VivaLasViejas]

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: WHO GIVES A %$#! what celebrities think?? Being rich and famous does not make someone an expert, and why people actually pay attention to this stuff is a mystery to me.

Celebrities are human beings, just like the rest of us.......they put on their pants one leg at a time like we do, they are made just as we are, and as far as I know, they reproduce in much the same ways as we do. Yes, they have a right to air their opinions.......and we have the right not to listen or care.

[Spidey's mom]

Pick up the Special Edition: Summer 2005 Newsweek "Your Health in the 21st Century" and read about the genetics involved in health care issues, including depression.

Tom has no idea what he is talking about.

steph

[Katydidit34]

I personally feel like celebrities are treated like gods in this country. It's ridiculous. The problem is that they have a world stage from which they can share their views and beliefs. I think that can be very dangerous. I think of the countless women who will be helped by someone like Brooke Shields coming forward and sharing her experience. Something positive will come from it. But I think what Tom Cruise is doing is very dangerous. Yes, they are just celebrities, but tell that to the people that require these medications to avoid a psychotic episode who hear this crap and decide that Tom's right and quit taking their meds. It's a slippery slope for sure. As the granddaughter of a paranoid schizophrenic and the mother of a child with ADD, it seriously offends me. He has no clue!!

Originally Posted by mjlrn97

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: WHO GIVES A %$#! what celebrities think?? Being rich and famous does not make someone an expert, and why people actually pay attention to this stuff is a mystery to me.

Celebrities are human beings, just like the rest of us.......they put on their pants one leg at a time like we do, they are made just as we are, and as far as I know, they reproduce in much the same ways as we do. Yes, they have a right to air their opinions.......and we have the right not to listen or care.

[Katydidit34]

Here's the link to the interview.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8343367/

[MandyInMS]

I USED to like Tom Cruise..this issue burns me up...sure everyone has a right to his/ her opinions, but in this instance it's down right dangerous! he has no medical training whatsoever and is speaking out against drugs that help so many people lead normal lives..people listen to celebs..I just hope someone out there doesn't decide tp go off their meds and end up harming themselves or others....grrrrrrrrrr

[cheerfuldoer]

Tom is publicly in search of himself through one relationship/marriage after another, through his religious beliefs, through having reached the crossroad of midlife and trying to hold onto what he thinks works for him. He'll recover, but at how many people's expense?

It concerns me that he speaks as he does about depression and the medications that have proven to be beneficial in the treatment of people's depression. I am one of those people. I know my medication helps me, and I know at this time the medication is necessary. I know because I went almost a year without it, and never felt as good as I do now that I'm back on the medication.

I'm even more concerned about the young woman Tom has proposed to marry, and having so much influence over her to the point she is ready to jump ship with her Catholic faith to be a part of Tom's"EVERTHING" - including his religious beliefs. Katy Holmes is living out a lifelong fantasy of being with Tom. She may be in need of some much needed anti-depressant medications by the time she truly awakens from her fantasy about a man she's dreamt of marrying all her life.......her life is yet but 26 years. How frightening for her, and she doesn't even see how much she is swept up into the "Tom Cruise" fantasy.