Readers Forum: Is Tom Cruise an expert in psychopharmacology?

Tulsa World
21.8.2005

Every night before I retire I pray that the recent surge in erratic behavior from Tom Cruise is the early stages of a manic episode. I know it is wrong to pray for someone else's misfortune, but the benefit for millions of people who suffer from mental illness would far outweigh one person's suffering.

If my prayer is granted, one would expect Tom's behavior to become increasingly disturbing. He would begin to stay up late at night, and his mind would race. Soon people would have difficulty understanding him. He might liquidate his entire fortune to invest in pork belly futures and go on Michael Jackson-like shopping sprees.

He'd believe he has special powers to detect terrorists and begin to receive encrypted messages from the CIA. His hygiene would suffer and that winning smile would turn into an irritated grimace. Finally, his friends and family would gather in the Cruise mansion for an "intervention." Their message: "Tom, get help, now! Psychiatric help!"

Following the intervention, Tom would be escorted by his beleaguered publicist to a mental institution. Upon discharge, hopefully waiting at the entrance would be Matt Lauer (Cruise's latest victim on a recent NBC interview).

Scientology, a Los Angeles based pseudo-religion, was invented in the 1950s, by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard. Hubbard said the thetan (soul) suffered from negative "engrams" implanted in previous lives. The cure for this negativity is to be "cleared" through use of a polygraph-type of machine called an "e-meter," aided by expensive "dianetics" workshops.

Members are taught that 75 million years ago the cosmic ruler Xenu paralyzed billions of people within our galaxy, brought them to Earth and destroyed their bodies with H-bombs. Their tormented thetans survived, however. Now I realize that every religion requires a leap of faith, but to me the breadth of this leap is something only a Californian is capable of executing, not a practical Midwesterner like me.

Yet, it is a growing "religion," and its anti-psychiatry jihad has escalated over the past few decades. Scientologists have peppered the Internet with fear-mongering Web sites. They publish books with the same rhetoric and hire a fleet of lawyers to sue hospitals and psychiatrists. Talk shows, always competing with each other for the most sensational topics, are easy targets.

What has puzzled me about this phenomenon, however, is the ability of the scientologists to stun people into submission with their empty rhetoric. They justify their sound bites with phrases such as "I have seen many cases of -- " or "I have read extensively about this topic and know what I am talking about."

For some reason, especially if the claimant is famous, that suffices as proof of expertise. This charade reached the level of travesty when Lisa Presley testified before a U.S. Senate subcommittee on the perils of treating children with Ritalin. There she was, just like Tom Cruise, claiming: "I have seen many cases of - - "and I have read extensively about this topic and know what I am talking about."

Even Lauer, a skilled interviewer, fell for it by acknowledging Cruise as a person who "seems to be an authority on his subject." Cruise jumped on this by admonishing Lauer for not adequately informing himself, as he had done.

Actually, Lauer made another mistake -- a mistake my grandmother warned me about years ago: "Never argue with someone about their religion." Lauer made this mistake when he tried to reason with Cruise. He mentioned that there were many people, some of whom were friends, whose lives had been turned around with help of mental health professionals, including medications. It was futile. He and Cruise were on two different planes.

A better approach might have been to just let Tom Cruise dig his own grave. First, I'd suggest an inquiry into scientology beliefs. The "church" has zealously kept its beliefs secret, for good reason. Scientology is like an abscess. If you lance it and expose it to air, it shrinks and disappears.

So Tom, tell us more about your religion. What are engrams, thetans, e-meters, and how do they work? We're all curious about Xenu and the H-bombs that went off 75 million years ago. This line of questioning, no matter what the answers, has the effect of exposing Cruise's belief system. Ninety-nine percent of viewers will be muttering, "Is this guy for real?"

This sets the stage for exploring his beliefs about mental illness.

So, Tom, you think mental disorders like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or depression don't exist? If they do, what would be your recommendation for people with those afflictions? E-meters? Dianetics? If so, where is the proof of efficacy of those "treatments?" Are you recommending that people with these disorders should stop taking their medications?

His predictable answers would result in a much deserved backlash from professional organizations, patients (many of whom are prominent and famous like him), patient advocacy groups, and public figures. He'd have to hire a pod or two of publicists, all of whom would be kept frenetically busy trying to stay the tsunami.

And he might never be seen on Oprah again.

Jeff Mitchell, MD, is medical director at Laureate Psychiatric Clinic and Hospital.

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