By now we’ve all heard about Tom Cruise (who apparently thinks reading a couple of articles on the internet qualifies him as an expert in the medical field) and his little pathetic rant on the Today Show last week where he basically Told the host of the show the he didn’t know what he was talking about when it came to perscription antidepressants… but HE (Tom) did.
This week, Brooke Shields took the next shot at Cruise. The good folks at The Globe and Mail give us this:
“I’m going to take a wild guess and say that Mr. Cruise has never suffered from postpartum depression,” Shields wrote in an editorial published Friday in The New York Times. Cruise had criticized Shields for taking the drugs before his appearance on Today last week but became particularly passionate about the issue in an interview with Matt Lauer.
“You don’t know the history of psychiatry. I do,” Cruise told Lauer.
He insisted that there was no such thing as chemical imbalances that need to be corrected with drugs and that depression could be treated with exercise and vitamins. Shields called those remarks “a disservice to mothers everywhere.”
Shields said she considered swallowing a bottle of pills or jumping out the window at the lowest point of her depression following the birth of daughter Rowan Francis in 2003. A doctor later attributed her feelings to a plunge in her estrogen and progesterone levels and prescribed the antidepressant Paxil.
Look, I’m not saying which opinion is right or wrong. All I’m saying is that Tom Cruise acted like a total Jack Ass.
Hey Tom! You’re not a doctor! I don’t care what articles you’ve read. YOU ARE A FRIGGING ACTOR (a damn good one too). You get paid to pretend you’re someone else. So quit talking down to people and acting like you’re some kind of authority just because you’ve got high speed internet at home and have read a few articles. I don’t care if they were on the Scientology website
I dont even know where to begin. This whole Tom cruise issue, most people r suggesting Tom Cruise thinks he knows everything, bla bla bla, he hasnt done his research and doesnt know what its like to have depression…more bla bla bla. Yet the public can have their opinion on scientology and not have a clue what its about. Isnt that contradicting? Brooke says that Toms comments were insulting yet she can b childish and bring Katie holmes into her backlash and critisize the age gap. HELLO? how many other celebrities have a massive age gap. they dont get a mention. What is it with this fixation on what Tom Cruise does. I am not a follower of scientology but i totally agree with prescription drugs r nothing but a lazy excuse. If they r so god damn great why rnt there any cases of people getting off them? Why do u have to b on them for yrs? Does anyone actually research for other alternatives? If so, its not much i bet. These helpless feelings or low state of mind come from somewhere, how about dealing with the problem not the symptom. And dont assume i dont know what im talking about, u dont know if i have had depression. I just cant believe the hype on what Tom Cruise does, And what is it with these women on their fucking high horse saying ‘u dont know anything tom, im a woman and i have children’.
Im a woman and have a child, i still agree with Tom Cruise. I just think its disgusting how society picks apart at the most petty things , and just laughs it off, yet if the tables were turned, it wouldnt b so funny would it? Everyone likes to critisize but when its done to them, its like ‘oh how dare they’. IDIOTS.
I just think all u Tom Cruise insulters get over urselves. And for the complete moron above with 7 children, what the fuck? r u sure u dont take drugs for recreational purposes? shouldnt U get a little more education b4 u start spouting ur nonsense? FIRTLY, why take it to the extreme, Tom Cruise has mentioned taking anit depressents u dumb turd, why take it so personal and so far to mention epileptics and diabetics? this is exactly what im talking about, stupid idiots who take a small portion of information and twist it into what seems appropriate for them.
Tom Cruise is a fucking actor, let him do his job and leave the poor guy alone. no one likes to hear the truth. there r terrible things going on in this world, and everyone would rather sit around and insult a celebrity. Who NO ONE knows personally. LOL LOL sad and pathetic.
Dave Rabbitt, ur post couldnt b any closer to the truth. well said.
But it’s all about Bobby Hollander, though. You people should understand… Bobby is doing important work! Give the guy a break. no, he’s not brilliant. Yes, he is sleazy… but whatever! This is Tom Cruise.
It is apparent that Tom Cruise is as uneducated as he sounds. He can read I will give him that, but his common sense wouldn’t fill a thimble. I agree there are too many medicated children and adults. He has never sat with a child who couldn’t sleep but two hours a night because of an ADHD situation, he has never sat in a classroom watching those children struggle with the alphabet at the age of ten. I do not agree in medicating children, unless there is no other way. Can you imagine the feelings of failure (and I use this term because it is what it is) when a ten year old cannot read the word CAT because their attention span is so short?
As for psychiatry being a non-existant problem and that it is all chemical imbalances, hmmm…tell that to Angela Yates children…oh wait…you can’t…they are all dead because of her PPD. Oh and all of the diabetics and epileptics out there…they should stop taking their meds too. It’s only an imbalance. (sarcasm)
My son is an epileptic, without his meds he would eventually become so mentally disabled he would end in a wheel chair and die. Every seizure causes more dead brain cells. So please tell me about chemical imbalances DOCTOR Tom, because from my end you are an blithering idiot! Oh and by the way I have SEVEN children and am a teacher of special needs children so I have a little more experience in dealing with these “chemical imbalances” on a daily basis. Get a bit more education before you start your spouting sophomoric nonsense!
2 Observations:
1. Tom didn’t say she shouldn’t do anything, he said she could’ve treated it without drugs. The author at the top of this article says her doctor attributed her feelings to a plunge in hormonal levels. Many women control hormonal (est & prog) levels every month (due to PMS) without taking antidepressents.
2. I’ve noticed a few people saying that they have clinical depression, and that nobody knows what it’s like, and that they take drugs. I haven’t heard one of them say those drugs cured their depression. It sure seems easier to pop a pill, instead of exercising, or finding out what foods and vitamins may effect hormone secretion (estrogen, progesterone, and serotonin) – but does that mean it is healthier? does that mean it is worth the side-effects?
One thing’s for sure, drug companies make alot of money off of people who trust doctors prescriptions, but won’t research the alternatives. They don’t care if you get addicted, actually that brings them more money. If these drugs are so much better than non-drug solutions, WHY DO THE USERS HAVE TO KEEP TAKING THEM FOR SO LONG? Think about it.
http://www.anzwers.net/hot/hardpix/fila/captive.html baseinchesmelted
http://homepages.pathfinder.gr/merklan/taodl/athlete.html aheadincomprehensibleoverdressed
http://www.berlin-incentives.de/wwwboard/messages/11912.html beganironrare
ok. let us hope that tom cruise realizes that he has no clue about ppd, chemical imbalances, or pregnancy. maybe once katie…er sorry..kate holmes goes prego he has to hold her hair back as she throws up, watch her beautiful body grow and change, and live through mood changes from hell, he wont be such a harsh judge about ppd.
nice one tom, talk about something you know nothing about.
http://car.loan-boat.com/say/ archinghigherlose
http://effexor.buddhistaidsproject.org/082877/ complimentwhosewondered
As someone who is very intelligent and also suffers from depression, I would like to say that it can be impossible to recover or exist without medication. I spent years exercising, taking vitamins, and if it matters, loving the Lord, I also spent 3 months unable to get out of bed and a year unable to leave my house. It was not until I got the “right” medication that I have been able to regain some type of life. I believe that some medical problems can be solved homopathically, but some CAN NOT!!! I would never wish depression on anyone, but this time I wish that Tom Cruise could experience what it is like to be out of contol emotionally and not have a clue why. He does not live in reality, how can he possibliy understand what it is like to be a “real person”? If I could personally talk to him I’d say, “get a real job, with an adverage income and pay bills and live like the a “real” person would and then lets talk about depression, oh, and maybe you can have a child that is out of control and hates himself, then maybe you could have some compassion which you are obviously running short of”. One more thing, us medicated people are the ones who made you rich, well you won’t get another dime from me!!!
There are people like Tom Cruise, who have never experienced the degree of depression like some of us have! Brook Shields is right when she said Tom has never had PPD! He’s never even given birth to a baby! The problem is that there are some husbands/fathers out there that come across with the same kind of attitude with the mother of their children and that’s when that kind of attitude becomes very dangerous! Then you see a mother sitting in court for the harm of her children and the guy goes on with life! The truth is, those guys should be charged with something also for stopping the mother, in many cases, from getting help or taking something to help! They don’t charge the guy though–I think they should if he’s anyway involved in stopping her from getting help!!!
This was the point that Tom Cruise didn’t make. Do you know how much prescription drugs are worth to Big Pharma? On a world wide basis about a trillion + dollars. How much do you suppose the pharmaceutical companies spend advertising drugs on TV, Radio, Magazines and News media? How much do they spend lobbying Congress to look the other way? How much do they pay (Grants) universities such as Harvard and Columbia to agree that drugging children is scientifically valid? Do you think that they want to protect this income? Right now Ritalin is being dispensed in schools under the guise of treating over active children. Ritalin is a mild form of amphetamine and of course as time goes by that doesn’t “work” the school psychologist then prescribes amphetamines and the end product is the teenager becomes a drug addict and a lifetime client. Please don’t believe me but take the time to research, Google is a great tool for this. Keywords are Prozac, Ritalin, School shootings, and Suicide. Regards Michael Hammond
Let me get this straight… So most people will argue that because “Tom Cruise is not a WOMAN who has previously suffered from post-partum depression” that he “automatically” has no clue as to what he’s talking about?- If so; then what would give a MALE doctor the right to prescribe a drug to treat a woman’s physchological problem?
This debate is the silliest thing I’ve heard in quite a while. Tom Cruise made it very clear (to “me” at least) that is was irresponsible for Brooke Shields to take a drug without fully knowing the possible consequences of doing so. And had she’d known that there was a non-drug related “alternative” to taking PAXIL, that she might have chosen “it” instead.
Shame on Tom Cruise……….and good for Brooke Shields. No one knows what it is like to suffer from the “helpless, hopeless feeling of depression ” unless you have traveled that road. I have been under doctor’s care for the past 16 years suffering from Severe Clinical Depression………like diving into a deep pool and not being able to come back up………so please don’t insult us by saying that we can over come it with vitamins and exercise and diet. When you suffer from depression, you have a shortage or no seratonin in your brain and all the anti-depressants do is artificially reproduce this chemical so you can live a “normal” life. So, if you have not lived with someone who suffers from depression or experienced it yourself do not judge, and until you have a Dr. after your name, do not try to tell some one what he or she needs to do.
It takes a lot of courage to come out and speak publicly about this illness that still has a stigma of shame. It is nothing to be ashamed of.
Had Brooke Shields not taken medication and treated her depression, she might be dead now. How irresponsible would it have been for her to leave her daughter without a mother just because she was too stubborn to accept treatment for her condition? Tom Cruise is a moron who should keep his mouth shut. Vitamins and exercise–you’ve got to be kidding me. Until he pops out a kid of his own (I have two), he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
Tom Cruise is the drugs right now, you can so tell.
Heh. I always thought that Tom is a fool but that suspicion is completely confirmed now. First the silly Oprah thing and now the debate with Matt Lauer. The next thing we know he’ll proclaim that he’s knowledgable in Rocket Science.
It’s TC’s right to act like a fool. More power to him. And that goes for Brook Shields also and any one else who wants to sound off. I have the right not to listen. And usually don’t.
Donna A.
Like any of us are in a position to comment either. i reckon Cruise probably has some idea of what he’s talking about. Or in the very least knows enough facts to back his point, of this I’m almost certain. But fuckit, who cares if he’s an actor or not, telling him he’s in no position to say anything is a tad hypocritical when its a voice expressed on a movie blog.
Does suffering and coming through soe kind of depression put you in any position to comment on the subject other than to relay your personal experience. Fucked if I know, its not Like Cruise has gone ahead an done something black and white and just plain wrong (see Crowe, Russell)
We live in a world with so many chemicals in our food, the air we breathe, just everywhere, that I don’t see how a person can say that a human being at this stage in our evolution can’t have a chemical imbalance (whether they are born with it or develop it through “natural” processes like those that can happen after a pregnancy or any type of surgery) and that it can’t be put into some sort of livable “balance” through a prescription drug. That’s not to disparage vitamins, colonics and carrot juice but, hey, some people obviously need more than that.
And I’ll see War of the Worlds on DVD. I can’t believe Spielberg and Cruise doing this sort of remake. They have the ability to get behind some excellent orginal work – they’re some stellar books out there and I know they can get a hold of the best original scripts – and they do this kinda schlock.
I agree with his opinions om depressents, it’s how he’s expressing the opinion that’s stupid.
..One thing that hasn’t been told to me yet is how the subject came up, weren’t they supposed to talk about War of the Worlds?
@CBlaze, That’s too bad because it’s a pretty good movie.
Hey John, you sure know how to give a compliment and an insult in the same sentence.
Cheers, man!
Tom Cruise suggests that women take “vitamins and exercise,” and warns that what Shields is promoting is “irresponsible.”???–Damn!!–where was Tom when Andrea Yates was so depressed?! I am sure that he could have counseled Yates to pop some vitamin C and run around the block a few times…lives would have been saved… What a pretentious jerk Tom is becoming.
Furthermore, since I am on the subject of Tom Cruise, I think he needs to find some other way of managing his mid-life crisis, or whatever kind of “crisis” he is going through right now, rather than potentially screwing up a woman’s–GIRL’S–young life. He has been married twice already (Scientology certainly didn’t save his and Nichole’s marriage, did it?). This 26 yr. old’s life is just beginning, really, and I think Tom should leave her alone–allow her to enjoy life, gain more life experiences–before screwing her life up. If anyone out there can get a message to Tom (lol!), tell him that he is being a moron. Tell him to leave the young girl alone, and find someone else his own age. While you are at it, tell him that he is looking like a complete fool as he is making his “publicity rounds” right now (“The Tonight Show”, “Oprah”…). He is just an embarrassment.
His credibility is shot anyways – he’s getting married to someone half his age and is running around acting like he knows EVERYTHING and is higher up on the ladder than the rest of us… What does that say about his own mental health? He’s delusional and suffering from some type of mid-life crisis! Quite possibly terrified of being alone at whatever age he√¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s at √¢‚Ǩ‚Äú hasn√¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t he proposed to everyone he√¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s dated since Nicole? Penelope Cruz stands out in my mind.
Maybe that’s why he’s done so much recent “research” on the topic of mental health and has become an “advocate” (or butting in his loud mouth opinion).
All I know is that I’m skipping WAR OF THE WORLDS because he’s pissing me off!
OK.. now i kind of agree with you. It was very thoughtless of him to say that opinion of his that way. Brooke, however, misses the point that Tom was making. To try and say that someone can pull through something without medication isn’t an insult.
on the other hand, i have to admit i havent heard the comments he must have made before the interview with matt lauer, which started this whole mess.