BellaOnline Forums Family Early Childhood Tom Cruise is Right, Matt Lauer is Wrong!

Tom Cruise is absolutely right to have corrected Matt Lauer on the recent Today Show! And, who ever said promoting social reform was an easy pleasentry? If a Hollywood actor is "all about himself and his money" he gets criticized, so don't we want these guys to use their high profile to promote something better for society?
I�ve helped thousands of children and parents NOT use the �kid speed� called Ritalin which only suppressess symtoms and does not handle underlying cause. I know that natural handlings of so-called ADD work when there is actually a physical problem. Or, it may be nothing in the first place. It may be genius intelligence one's dealing with. You do not need a drug to �cure� a child�s natural high-interest in life, or boredom with �modern-day� psychology-oriented schooling. Did you know that per testing, most children who are so-called �ADD� or �hyperactive� simply have a much higher IQ then the other children in class. Yes. This is true per my 15 years of research. So what are we doing then? Are we drugging down and suppressing the normal curiousity of our next generations geniuses - the next Einstein, Motzart, or Tessla? I say NO. And apparently Tom Cruise agrees. We can not be "Lemmings to the Sea" and follow blindly on the matter of our next generations' welfare and their ability to create our future.

I too believe that too many parents and teachers throw prescriptions at children who don't necessarily need it. However, my objection to Tom Cruise's using his actor platform is that he does have a huge following of people who will jump to the conclusion that his ideas are right and without doing their own research will throw away the Ritalin and whatever anti-depressents adults may be taking and both cause serious, sometimes fatal and often dangerous withdrawal symptoms.

He is not a doctor. Is he willing to be held responsible when a parent pulls the Ritalin and the kid commits suicide or kills someone else? Is he willing to be responsible for the mother who kills her babies because she takes his advice and substitutes vitamins for her anti-depressants?

What about for the paranoid schizophrenic? The manic-depressive?

If Tom Cruise has indeed done his research, let him publish it. You can't just say that you know better when you totally lack credentials and are offering no scientific data. Especially when you are a celebrity.

You personally have done research and have 15 years of experience. I'd be much more inclined to listen to you on this subject--as I would hope most people would.

Suppose he came out applauding drug use for ADD? He'd probably have no more basis for it, but people would rush to the doctors in droves because of who he is. I think that is dangerous and far more irresponsible than Brooke Shields telling how she handled her post-partum depression. Perhaps Tom should write a book about how he overcame his problems without using drugs.

I know it's possible--I have a son with unmedicated ADD. He is smarter than average and we have found ways to let him be who he is without trying to force him into preconceived molds. And, it was not easy--popping a pill probably would have been! But, that was just what worked for him--I would never tell everyone else to do it my way.

Deb,
You said it beautifully and I applaud you for sharing your experiences not forcing your beliefs!

As one who has struggled with a chemical imbalance which Mr. Cruise states doesn't exist, I have suffered through fevers lasting a year or more, tingling in my face, dry heaves, and other symptoms which are helped when I take medication which raises two different chemicals in my brain. I also don't sleep 22 out of 24 hours a day. It helps ME. I do agree however, that many of these medications are overprescribed, but THAT is the problem, not the medications themselves.

To say that Mr. Cruise "corrected" Matt Lauer is an understatement, attacked is more like it! He looked as if he was going to lunge at Lauer, when all Lauer said was that he knew some instances of children who had benefited from their medication. I continued to watch in disbelief as Mr. Cruise went on this tirade on how Matt Lauer did not know the history of psychiatry, but he (Cruise) DID. His egocentric omnipotent attitude was irresponsible and I hope that he doesn't influence parents to take their children off medications that they may truly need.

As I said, I agree that medications for hyperactive children are extremely overprescribed, and while I also take the natural therapies Lizzie spoke of to supplement my meds, alone they are not enough. True that many children may not need such medications, some do.

I am curious as to what type of professional that Lizzie is that he/she has helped thousands and done 15 years of research, but condemns "modern day" psychology-oriented schooling as well as talking about Tom Cruise being right about the social reform? He strongly denounces psychiatry as "pseudo-science". As a preschool teacher, I have seen children with numerous emotional and behavioral issues attributed to extreme physical and sexual abuse that have been helped by psychiatric therapy and no amount of vitamins or natural supplements could have taken the place of this.

To suggest chemical imbalances don't exist, to say that psychiatry is a pseudosciense, to say that these medications should be eliminated completely are all very dangerous generalizations...

Bravo Kristi! I'm so very glad that you're doing well now that you have meds to help.



Absolutely!! What bothered me the most was that Cruise seemed to have the attitude that his way was the ONLY right way. Everything else was based on a lie and wrong. I look at it this way, he's entitled to his opinion, but his opinion is not fact.

Imagine the amount of negativity he put out into the world! He went after women, who are in probably one of their most vulnerable states, coping with PPD. He went after parents, who are probably living in a moment of crisis or dealing with a chronically ill child, for providing real and necessary medication. (Yes, those meds probably are overprescribed but that doesn't mean they aren't necessary for some.) And he went after the some of the most vulnerable in our society as a whole (at least in my opinion), those with chemical imbalances, those dealing with mental illness, those needing therapy to deal with life, etc. These tend to be the shunned, because as a whole people don't really understand these illnesses. I think this contributes to a large portion of those affected from seeking help. What Cruise did certainly didn't help.

Negativity breeds negativity and it usually comes around to bite you in the butt!

Kristi, I applaud you for explaining your illness a little bit. I'm sure your brief post didn't get anywhere near the feelings you must have been dealing with at the time.

Thanks, Kristi. It's people like you that I think Tom Cruise did the most injustice. How can he presume to know better than you about your health? To me, that is the ultimate in arrogance. You seem to be a productive, contributing member of society--teaching preschool is heroic in and of itself!

Our bodies and especially our brains are complex and there are still many mysteries in how they work. They do not all work alike! I can go into a store like Kirkland's or Bed, Bath & Beyond and while I love the way they smell, I get intense headaches if I'm there more than a minute. If I could fix this with a vitamin, I would have done it already (I have tried!). And, I don't think they need to be shut down because they are "bad" for me. I understand that millions of people can stay in there for days and be just fine. I also know that some people have asthma attacks when exposed to that much fragrance. I suppose we should take their inhalers just because I don't need one? To me, this is the logic that follows Tom's thinking. Faulty to say the least.

I don't think he should be stoned--I do support freedom of speech. But, I also think that his purporting to "know" what he obviously does not know is irresponsible. And I also think the least the media can do is point out when they are repeating or covering such nonsense that he is not licensed or trained to practice medicine.

Congratulations on taking care of your own health the way that works for you and for speaking out! I am afraid that people will stop taking medicine they need because he said so, or will start to feel shame because of his comments. He has given every idiot out there ammunition for opposing psychiatry, psychology, prescription medicine, and who knows what else they will try to use it on!

I think Tom Cruise is a dork...

As I posted in the family section, based on Tom Cruise's behavior during the Today Show interview, it's obvious that his vitamins are NOT working for him...;-)