Tom Cruise launches war on psychiatrists -- faults them for "psuedo-science"

i wonder how they ever settled on Katie though. it's not like she was going anywhere

HOLLYWOOD, May 25, 2005

Cruise Slams Shields' Drug Use
By WENN
............................................
Tom Cruise has criticized Hollywood pal Brooke Shields' "misguided" use of the anti-depressant Paxil, while declaring the actress' career as over.

In an interview with Billy Bush on the TV show Access Hollywood, to be screened on May 26, Cruise speaks of his disappointment to learn Shields used Paxil to fight post-natal depression following the birth of her daughter Rowan.

Shields is currently weaning herself off her medication so she and husband Chris Henchy can have another child.

Cruise, who claims to have helped people fight drug addictions through his controversial Scientology religion, says the Suddenly Susan actress should have used vitamins to help her feelings of despair.

Cruise says, "Here is a woman, and I care about Brooke Shields because I think she is an incredibly talented woman. You look at, where has her career gone?"

Despite the Minority Report actor's declaration her career is over, Shields is currently receiving rave reviews playing murderess Roxie Hart in the London theatre production of Chicago.

Cruise maintains, "These drugs are dangerous. I have actually helped people come off.

"When you talk about postpartum, you can take people today, women, and what you do is you use vitamins. There is a hormonal thing that is going on, scientifically, you can prove that. But when you talk about emotional, chemical imbalances in people, there is no science behind that.

"You can use vitamins to help a woman through those things

I haven't, but I can totally see that being the case. I'd love to poke my head in there but I'm worried that I'd get attacked and wind up getting the old "stress test" from Tommy boy.

xpost amateurist otm

He's opposed to everything the Scientologist leaders tell him to be opposed to, natch.

I read that part of the Scientologist programming is that when you start to _doubt_ yourself and your choices (Scientology), there are embedded hypnosis commands that will create physical pain or crushing mental discomfort. At this point, of course, a brainwashed 'tologist will call his Scientology master and say, "I'm breaking down! I don't feel good!" and that will be the tip-off that the brainwashing is starting to fade away, so they give you some "emergency therapy" which is more brainwashing to make you feel good again. All of the brainwashing has these little embedded commands that tip off the organization when you need a "tune up."

I wish I could find it now. The guy is seriously deluded.

SPIEGEL: With all due respect, we doubt that.

Indeed.

early mid-70's statue of 'Ritalin Man' designed by the pharms to promote the drug to children:

http://www.toymuseum.com/inside/c3/3265044.html

it's so honest: a friendly man taking off his hat to reveal that there is absolutely nothing on the inside of his head

http://www.toymuseum.com/inside/c3/3265044.gif

kenan, they do work for some people, they really do.

Control second, money first.

There's an interesting piece I read somewhere about the style of conferences held by the Scientologists for low-ranking leaders: if you were to look at the transcript of the speeches they were given, they're indistinguishable from the equivalent events for Avon, Tupperware, Amway or so on.

"scientolo" sounds very french!

So poorly designed, the artwork there. Last time I saw it I was shaking my head.

It's called, amazingly, the "Citizens Commission on Human Rights." The place is TERRIFYING. You can buy "Psychiatry Kills" t-shirts in the lobby. Another interesting note is that the CCHR's "Celebrity Spokesman" is Jason Lee, the widely liked actor from Kevin Smith's movies.
Seriously, though, take all their tours. Your mind will be blown apart. Just never give your real name.

oh this is simple math - there's this new thing, the Kabbalah Center, poaching new members from Scientology's target herd (confused Hollywood celebrities), so they're upping their media profile as much as possible to compete. Ergo, Cruise and Beck's recent "outings". Expect more in the near future, Scientology requires influx of new rich members to keep the scheme going.

man I hate those fucking Scientology people.

(being both a sci-fi fan and a Jew, I got it in both barrels)

x-post

x-post

-- Shakey Mo Collier (audiobo...), May 31st, 2005.

dude, ITS WORTH IT

well AA doesn't have a freakish money hungry cult behind it, it's run without a central organization, as far as I know.

Barring schism groups and what not, there is a central AA org, or more specifically "Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc."

I know this is obvious, but seems nobody is saying it.

tho it's funny how pyschotropic drugs are excerpted from the acceptable meds that allow you to live(e.g. insulin, heart medication, etc).

so goes the thinking, at least. i've had several beers by now, so i'm not at my most articulate. George Lakoff wrote a good bit or two on this, i think.

The bit that kind of amuses me about Mr Cruise's statements is that my family is full of psychologists and they are also pretty anti psychiatry. My grandma worked with children with learning disabilities until she retired- she has two degrees in child psychology and did some kind of specialization in how children learn to read. She taught me all about how the different brain structures are involved in different parts of reading, where you understand words, where grammar comes from, and so forth. She was, is actually, very anti-Ritalin. In a way I see her point, she thinks that too often children are put on drugs and mainstreamed in classrooms, when really they need someone to sit and work intensively one on one with them and show them how to work around their learning disability. And I'm sure that a lot of kids on Ritalin would benefit from more individual tutoring. But to extrapolate that and say that all psychiatric drugs are bad... that doesn't follow for me. (She is a big follower of Erik Erikson, who has some far out ideas, that your whole life is affected by whether you win the identity struggle and come out feeling creative and competent and if not you are DOOMED, seems a little crazy to me.) I grew up hearing "psychiatrists went to normal medical school, they really don't understand how the human brain works" which doesn't seem that accurate.

In a way I see her point, she thinks that too often children are put on drugs and mainstreamed in classrooms, when really they need someone to sit and work intensively one on one with them and show them how to work around their learning disability.

With what teachers? Surely that's part of the problem.

True, except celebrities aren't exactly the target -- they're more like the bait. Scientology doesn't build its skyscrapers on the backs of its relative handful of boldfaced names. The money comes from the rest of the muddled masses who crowd in looking for "answers" and end up devoting their life's work and earnings to the church. The celebrity endorsements are there to make the true believers feel like they're not suckers. And I'm sure the celebrities' experience of the church is a lot different from that of the average follower.

Like other Nautilized midgets?

Clearly his first psychiatrist told Tom "You like fellas."

excerpt:
The uncertainty comes at a critical time for Paramount as it prepares to release "War of the Worlds," a big-budget science fiction epic directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Mr. Cruise. The movie, jointly financed with DreamWorks, is to open on June 29.

While promoting that film over the last several weeks, Mr. Cruise engaged in an increasingly public discussion of his religion, Scientology. Then he set tongues wagging in Hollywood and elsewhere with an hourlong appearance on the May 23 "Oprah" show, during which he jumped around the set, hopped onto a couch, fell rapturously to one knee and repeatedly professed his love for his new girlfriend, the actress Katie Holmes.

Many Hollywood stars are involved with the Church of Scientology, and there is nothing particularly unusual about trumpeting a new love. But some executives at Paramount and DreamWorks have voiced concern that fans were becoming distracted from the movie, which cost some $130 million to produce.

I've said it before, but what the hell, I'll say it again: HOW IS THIS DIFFERENT THAN ANY OTHER RELIGION?

Other religions ask. They demand.

To put it another way; you don't have to sign a release before you go to confession.

Who? I've never heard of most or, frankly, any churches asking for 1040s. Maybe the fact that I'm irreligious doesn't help that, but still. I think I might have heard on occasion about this occurring. And even then, your typical church doesn't ask that you legally turn over your mental care to them, or make you give them large sums of money to acheive "enlightenment".

I'm sorry, but the defense of "hey, other religions have/continue to do this!" doesn't work. It wasn't right then and it isn't right now. And the fact that $cientology aims for more than that is very deeply disturbing and should be to practically anyone.

I love in Independence Day where there's this token scene of a British guy going "oh GOOD the Americans are dealing with this...tea, anyone?"

The other main religions have the advantage of being old enough to be assimilated into their host cultures, like viruses into our so-alled 'junk dna'.

Scientology is a relatively new mutant parasite, so its methods borrow from the ruthless 'innovations' of our modern culture (such as pyramid scams, science fiction and the like). Which makes it both attractive to some and incredibly ghastly to most.

Or something like that, I'm pulling this out of my ass.

I've heard of that too, and there's always been a level of debate about it because its clearly something that Moses imparted in early law for the "big 3". In reference to scientology however, well, here's a cost rundown for ya'...

http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings/Spa/8412/gregg/DYINET_6.HTM#cost

I'm not trying to distract the argument that Scientology is fucked up, but I am saying that it's not much different than other religions except for the fact that it's only fifty years old.

I'm a full-fledged Christian, by the way. I know that my faith encompasses a lot of things that seem goofy to others (an ex-girlfriend accused me once of worshipping a vampire). Why should I judge another religion just because it also seems completely fucked?

So creepy.

ethically, its massively different. Say what you will about their differing rituals, litanies, or customs, but every major religion tends to back several key moral precepts - don't murder, don't steal, be honest, be generous with those less fortunate than you. Scientology, however, says none of these things. In addition to being young and thus to us, rather transparent in its machinations to secure social power and standing, it is also manifestly repugnant ethically when weighed against the traditional moral instructions of Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, etc.

I think Scientology's whole thing is to "clear" your mind in order to make you happy which leads to not murdering, stealing, honesty, generosity, etc. I'm not sure it's so different from other religions, as all of them seem a little brainwashy to me. But, it is different in that it is blatant about brainwashing.

but even that is backwards from most religions - the core of the most enduring traditions ARE the basic ethical precepts. The Ten Commandments, the Eightfold Path, etc. These are presented as more important than personal happiness, as enduring words to live by that supercede any kind of selfish focus on the individual. For Scientology, ethics are secondary to 1) making money and 2) personal happiness, and this is made fairly explicit. They frame their "religion" as one in which the individual attains happiness, wealth, and power through a series of strict, economically quantifiable steps. This is vastly different from (most) other religions wherein the central preoccupation is with living a morally upright life, studying the "truth", etc.

Hm. Maybe I will join Scientology. Does it work?

Not really. See, the guys that make the money are already in the organization. You're just handing them your cash. Lots of it. If you want to screw people on your own, you're better off just going the Nietzschian route.

also you have too many body thetans.

So creepy.

not particularly--that could be seen as a starmaking business strategy.

http://www.defamer.com/hollywood/gossip/tom-cruise/photoblogging-tom-cruise-on-oprah-104673.php

http://www.oprahwinfrey.de/Bilder/Bilder/Tom%20Cruise_jpg.jpg

http://www.scientologytoday.org/corp/img/emeter.jpg

(xxxxpost)

Along the way Burroughs experimented with yet another technique for going deeper into one's mental filters: Scientology. L. Ron Hubbard, creator of Scientology, was teaching that memories of events, or of words overheard while sleeping, and even of past life events were stored in a person's unconscious mental record. By bringing this information out into the open, the emotional charge on this baggage could be "cleared". What so impressed Burroughs was the effectiveness of the Scientology techniques. He once wrote that one could accomplish more with 10 hours of Scientology techniques than with 10 years of psychotherapy. He felt he accomplished a great deal of self healing through applying their methods, and for a time he was obsessed with "audits" and "E-meters".

But as he penetrated more deeply into the church he discovered that the visionary Hubbard was also an eccentric fascist and that his "church" used appallingly effective mind control techniques to assure a steady supply of loyalty, secrecy, and cash. Burroughs found it sickening and ironic that a tool effective for setting people free was being used to enslave them in other ways. He broke with Scientology and went on to blab all that he knew. (Note that a man with fewer guns might not have been so brave! Scientology had a strong policy of punishing those who broke the silence or pissed them off.)

Oprah says her best friends are Tom Cruise and John Travolta. She also seems quite fond of Kirstie Ally.

Oh, and poor fucking Beck. He is TOTALLY a Scientologist. I had thought it was just a rumor, but he admitted it, donates to Scientology, married and had a baby with a Scientologist who comes from a Scientologist family and a whole bunch of obviously weird shit. I almost wonder if they groomed him to become a famous musician from the start in order to rake in big bucks for them.

A few random comments on reading the above, that to me are important to re-iterate, I guess with the overarching theme that when we are talking about mental health, it is best not to form generalizations (usually based on your own personal experience and/or that of your immediate social circle). These are such complex issues with such a huge range of variability in experience.

A mental disorder != a mental disorder != a mental disorder, and therefore the respective role that medication might play in treating is different depending on what it is you are talking about. All other things being equal, for example, I would view psychotropic meds as being an essential part of treatment for full-blown schizophrenia, whereas it is not necessarily essential for major depression.

It also depends a lot on each individual's case, and what they are bringing to the table. There are people I see who clearly walk into our office expecting to be 'shown the magic pill' to make their problems vanish (they are fooling themselves--no such pill or combination of pills exists). On the other extreme, there are also people for whom medication potentially could help them quite a bit, but they are not willing to entertain the thought of even trying it just to see if it could help them.

So, there is no easy answer or generalization you can make, psychiatric meds are 'always evil' or 'always good', that is a tenable one. If Tom Cruise's take is that meds are 'always evil' or 'should not be considered', it seems to me he is taking his own personal experience and trying to apply it to everyone--to be fair to him, I see people do this all the time when talking about mental health disorders. But it usually results in supremely naive and overly simplistic positions. In the case of Cruise, one that refuses to confront the fact that psychiatric meds have genuinely helped a lot of people--and I say that from the position of someone whose own admitted bias, as a therapist and personally, is that people don't look as much as they should towards making changes in their behavior and lifestyle.

One of my supervisors at work uses an analogy that I quite like--think of a salmon trying to swim upstream against a huge waterfall to reach a certain homebound destination. Medication is like levelling-out the slope of the waterfall so that you can swim more unobstructed, whereas psychotherapy is like teaching you to swim more efficiently. At the end of the day, you still need to be able to swim forward if you with to reach your destination (whatever goal you have). And maybe you may conclude that the speed/efficiency with which you naturally swim may or may not 'work' enough for you as it is; but leveling the slope of the waterfall in and of itself probably isn't going to be enough to get you to where you want to be.

go brooke!!!

AWWWW SNAP

Life must be tough for Katie Holmes, the new virgin queen of Hollywood.

In Sin City, few will wait until the wedding night to consummate their passion. That casting couch legend didn't just procreate itself, after all. And hey, in the disposable world of show biz, the other person might not be famous the next morning, never mind the day of a wedding months later. It's just unthinkable to wait that long.

But not for Holmes, 26. She has taken a solemn vow to stay a virgin until her honeymoon.

She could have dodged all the bedtime bother by dating a notorious closet homosexual and have him declare his undying love for her. Instead, she chose to fall for testosterone-charged action man Tom Cruise, 42.

From what I can gather so far, there is no mention of aliens! I do know that Hubbard grabbed his core techniques from other sources and, as William Burroughs said above, used these effective tools for setting people free to enslave them in other ways.

Googling Self Clearing The Pilot will allow you to find the document as a txt, word doc, pdf or web formatted version. It's 300 pages or so.

i hope this is poker-faced humor