Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Pseudoscience you say? My brain chemistry would beg to differ!

Does everyone remember that famous Today Show interview in 2005 that Matt Lauer had with Tom cruise? This was the interview in which Tom Cruise bashed psychiatry while he continually spoke over top of Matt Lauer, not allowing him to get more than a few words in here and there. That interview permanently changed my view of Tom Cruise for the worse.  I absolutely refuse to watch a Tom Cruise movie now, whether it is a new movie or an old movie, I refuse to support him.

If you didn’t see it or you would like to watch it again, below is a link to it.  If you choose not to watch it or re-watch it, don’t worry, I will post some of the major Tom Cruise quotes from that interview below.

Interview link:

Matt Lauer and Tom Cruise Today Show Interview

Before I begin on the quotes from Cruise's Today Show interview, I want to remind you that not long before Tom’s interview with Matt Lauer took place Cruise publicly bashed Brooke Shields for her use of Paxil, an anti-depressant medication she took to treat her postpartum depression. Tom Cruise expressed disappointment in Brooke Shields because she chose to take a psychiatric medication.  Here is a quote in which Tom Cruise expressed some of his thoughts on postpartum depression:

"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.”

So in short from that quote and his others, Tom Cruise believes that Postpartum depression has no scientific background outside of being a "hormonal thing" and that it can be treated solely with vitamins. As Brooke Shields pointed out, Tom Cruise has never been pregnant and therefore has no room to speak about postpartum depression in such a manner.


Moving on to some notable Tom Cruise quotes from his Today Show interview with Matt Lauer:

“I've never agreed with psychiatry, ever. Before I was a Scientologist I never agreed with psychiatry. And when I started studying the history of psychiatry, I understood more and more why I didn't believe in psychiatry.”

“As far as the Brooke Shields thing is, look, you gotta understand, I really care about Brooke Shields. I think here's a wonderful and talented woman and I wanna see her do well and I know that Psychiatry is a pseudo-science.”

At one point when Matt Lauer tried to counter Cruise’s irrational arguments, Cruise said to him “Here's the problem, you don't know the history of psychiatry. I do.”

Matt Lauer points out that there are examples where people have benefited from psychiatric medication and that Brook Shields is one of those individuals.  

 Tom Cruise counters this argument with: 

 “There is no such thing as a chemical imbalance.”

                              and
“All it does is mask the problem. There's ways of 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, anti-psychotic drugs. And there are ways of doing it without that so that we don't end up in a brave new world.”

When Matt Lauer asks Cruise "If anti-depressants work for Brooke Shields, why is that not OK?"  Tom Cruise responds with "I disagree with it." (Sorry Brooke Shields, depressed you must be because Tom Cruise "disagrees" with your use of Paxil)!

I know that this interview was 7 years ago but the arguments haven’t changed; those who are in battle with they field of Psychiatry are still making the same arguments.  In fact, I have unfortunately seen the argument made tenfold in recent weeks and months. I use Tom Cruise as an example because he is well known and he has publicly expressed his views giving me some quotes to put out there for all to see.  Unfortunately, this is a viewpoint that many, many individuals share with Tom Cruise. Tom Cruise is a Scientologist and the views that he has expressed regarding psychiatry are very much rooted in his Scientological beliefs.  These views are commonly shared by Scientologists alike as well as non-scientologists who for whatever reason have chosen not to believe in psychiatry.
 
Over the years, I have heard this argument on a number of occasions from a number of different sources and individuals; the argument that psychiatry is a joke, a pseudoscience.  These same individuals oppose psychiatric medications at all costs.  I have seen comments that individuals have placed on articles on the NAMI site or other psychiatric related websites that blast the article posted and the field of psychiatry.  I have also seen these types of responses to individual’s personal blogs or comments on a posting that an individual has made on their personal mental health related Facebook page or Twitter page.  These types of comments and views pop up all over the place in the cyber world of psychiatry and mental health.

Not only do the individuals placing these hateful comments bash the field of psychiatry and the use of medications but they make blanket insults towards each and every one of us who could not survive without the psychiatric medications that we take daily.  These individuals say things that imply that we are weak for taking these medications or uneducated for believing that psychology is actually a science and so on and so forth. These individuals minimize our illnesses as if what we are going through is so easy to deal with.  Boy, how stupid we have all been for taking these Psychiatric medications when we could have just chosen to go down the road of exercising and taking vitamins.  Oh wait, I do exercise and take vitamins!  In reality they have no idea what we go through every day and never will!  

I’ve been reading comments and articles like that for years but it was not until recently when I began this blog that I became more active in staying aware of psychiatric issues.  So reading more blogs, following mental health related Facebook pages and reading more articles leads to me come across more of these anti-psychiatry posts. Unfortunately, it doesn’t get easier to read them with each new one that I read, I find myself getting that same angry feeling throughout my body and that same unsettling feeling in my stomach that I felt during the Tom Cruise interview and that I have felt with every person’s anti-psychiatry words I have read or heard since then.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I completely believe that everybody has a right to their opinion.  However, I have two issues with these anti-psychiatry views.  First of all, they are pure opinion, they are not fact based at all.  Second, you have no right to push your opinions on me, medications are what work for me, who are you to tell me what to do with my body? I wouldn’t dare tell you what medications you could and couldn’t take. Oh, and back to reason one, you have no fact to back up your opinion so please keep it to yourself.

Tom Cruise says "the ideal scene is that no one has to take an anti-psychotic medication"! First of all, his use of the term "anti-psychotic medication" in which he used over and over in the interview to describe anti-depressants and Ritalin and Adderall shows that he does not have the understanding of psychiatry that he claims to have when speaking to Matt Lauer.  Anti-psychotic medications are a class of medications that fall under the larger class of psychiatric medications. Second and more importantly; guess what Tom Cruise, those of taking psychiatric medications 100% agree with you on that one, if we didn't have to take them we WOULDN'T! I literally owe my life to psychiatric medications.  I would not be alive today without them! 

Plain and simple, enough said, PSYCHIATRIC MEDICATIONS keep me alive, without them I would be dead!

Would they dare tell someone with cancer that they don’t need the Chemo or radiation that saves their life?

Would they dare tell someone with diabetes that they don’t need the insulin that keeps them alive?

Would they dare tell someone with high blood pressure that they don’t need the blood pressure medications that save their life?

Would they dare tell someone with heart disease that they don’t need the medications that keep them alive?

The list of physical illnesses could go on and on, the answer to each of them would more than likely be NO! They would not tell someone with a physical illness that they should not take the medications that keep them alive.  So that leaves the question, why would they tell those of us with a mental illness that our lives are not worthy of being saved and therefore we should not take the medications that keep us alive?

“I’ll let them think what they want. If they care enough to bother with what I do, then I’m already better than them” –Marilyn Monroe

Thanks for reading as always! Until next time…

-Kissing Stigma Goodbye-

Monday, September 24, 2012

To be continued...


Matt Lauer and Tom Cruise in their controversial interview back in 2005.  Back to blogging from what has been too long of a break, I am already partially done this one.  Expect more on all things related to that interview and anti-psychiatry view!

-Kissing Stigma Goodbye-

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

More famous individuals with Bipolar Disorder

Actor Drew Carey is said to have a diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder

The 16th President of the United States of America Abraham Lincoln is suspected to have had Bipolar Disorder

Musician Jimi Hendrix is said to have had Bipolar Disorder

Kay Redfield Jamison, Author of An Unquiet Mind among many other psychiatric books has a diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder and credits Lithium as being life changing.

Actor Robin Williams is said to have a diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder

It is suspected that writer Edgar Allen Poe had Bipolar Disorder

Winston Churchill is said to have had Bipolar Disorder

-KSG-

Friday, September 14, 2012

Back to the grind!

Now that school has come to an end and my life has calmed down quite a bit, I am going to take the time this weekend to read over my entire blog from beginning to end.  Doing this will allow me to get back to writing significant postings again in a way that flows with all the previous posts I have written.  I am sorry that the writing went down to a minimum over the last few months, school was keeping me busier than I ever expected!  I'm looking forward to getting back on track... telling some more of my story and educating more on mental illness.

As I do every so often, I will post my e-mail address again.  Please feel free to e-mail me with anything related to the blog, mental illness, your story, topics you'd like to hear about, etc.

My e-mail address is; KissingStigmaGoodbye@gmail.com!

Have a fantastic weekend!

-Kissing Stigma Goodbye-

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

More Famous People With Bipolar

Actor Jean-Claude Van Damme has been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder.  He attributes Lithium to having turned his life around.

Political Leader Patrick Joseph Kennedy has a diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder and has openly and publicly discussed his diagnosis and his story of life with Bipolar.

Actress Mariette Hartley has a diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder

Actor Maurice Bernard has been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder and has openly and publicly discussed his diagnosis and his story.


Musician Sinead O'Connor has a diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder

Artist Vincent Van Gogh was believed to have Bipolar Disorder.  This is based off of assessing his behaviors from when he was alive, they have been said to meet the criteria for Bipolar Disorder.

20th Century Writer Virginia Woolf was also said to have had exhibited behaviors that would now meet the criteria for Bipolar Disorder.

More to come! Thanks for reading as always!

-KSG-

Monday, September 10, 2012

I love football season!

First game of the season for the Ravens just ended. I'm so happy to see purple and black back on the field! I just watched my boys kick some Bengals booty, winning 44-13!!! I'm so happy to have seen them play so well and I'm so excited for the remainder of the season! Hoping for a ring this year! GO RAVENS!!!!!

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Famous People WIth Bipolar, Cont.

More famous individuals with Bipolar Disorder, continued from yesterday's post!

Musician Adam Ant

Musician Axl Rose

Actor Jim Carrey

Actress Linda Hamilton

Actress Catherine Zeta-Jones

Musician Kurt Cobain

Actress Margot Kidder

Musician Ozzy Osbourne

Musician Rosemary Clooney


More to come over the next few days! Probably not tomorrow, I have to work tomorrow and tomorrow night is the start of Ravens football! YAY!

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Famous People With Bipolar!

The beautiful Marilyn Monroe was said to have had Bipolar Disorder!

Jane Pauley: Former Dateline NBC Host

A video of an interview done with Jane Pauley:  http://watch.wliw.org/video/1317630652/




Actress Patty Duke credits Lithium for saving her life

Gone With The Wind actress (among others) Vivien Leigh was said to have had Bipolar Disorder
Actor Richard Dreyfuss went public with his Bipolar battle in 2006
Rapper DMX battles Bipolar Disorder
Famous writer Kurt Vonnegut was thought to have lived with Bipolar Disorder
Actress and Writer Carrie Fisher has Bipolar Disorder and she has been very open in discussing her diagnosis publicly
After her very public melt down and psychiatric hospitalizations in 2008 it is suspected that Britney Spears has Bipolar, it has however never been confirmed by Britney.

That is it for this evening.  This will be continued tomorrow!  There are so many more famous individuals with Bipolar!  It will take me quite a while to get them all posted, in due time I will get quite a few more up here.  Expect some more for me tomorrow!

Thanks for reading! Until next time...

-KSG-

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Disclosing you have a mental illness at work...

I was supposed to post this a few days ago (as I promised) after posting the article titled "Bipolar Disorder In The Workplace" that I found on Forbes website.  The following comes from Forbes website as well "Seven Tips For Disclosing Bipolar Disorder to Your Employer"

Thinking About Disclosure
If you're weighing the advantages and disadvantages of disclosing your mental condition, think about whom you'll talk to and how much you'll disclose. It might be helpful to have your therapist at the meeting to describe bipolar disorders in detail.
 
Do Your Homework
It shouldn't be hard to determine your employer's attitude toward mental illness. Have others with bipolar disorders been hired? What are their experiences? Is the company open to telecommuting?


If You Keep Quiet
If you decide not to disclose your mental condition to your employer, think about how you'll get the needed support from others. This could include friends and your therapist. If your current employer is not supportive, it might be time to start looking for a more sympathetic and knowledgeable company.

How To Handle Disclosure
If you decide to disclose your mental condition, decide if you, your therapist or another person will do most of the talking. Think about what will be said and when: You may want to disclose your condition before a job interview, at the interview, before a job offer, before accepting a job or after you've started work.

Who To Tell
Who you tell will have a lot to do with when you decide to disclose. You may tell trusted co-workers, your supervisor, the interviewer, a personnel officer or a representative of the company's worker-assistance staff.

What To Say
Think about how specific you want to be when disclosing your mental condition. Do you want to describe it in general terms, such as "a medical condition," or do you want to be more specific and say "neurological problem" or "difficulty handling stress?" You may want to give your diagnosis: bipolar, depression or anxiety disorder.
 
Limitations
Describe any limitations you have in performing your duties. Tell how accommodations can help. Consider telling the employer what symptoms others may observe, what the symptoms indicate and how best to handle them. If you disclose on your own, point your employer to any necessary information from your doctor or the Americans with Disability Act.

-KSG-

Saturday, September 1, 2012