I have never really cared much for Tom Cruise. I know nothing about Scientology. But maybe he and they are on to something in their complete disdain for psycho-active drugs used in Psychiatry. I do not know the "history of Psychiatry" the way Cruise and followers of his chosen religion claim to. But I know enough to realize that it often borders on complete quackery, relying on trial and error more than the profession would care to admit. Maybe it is time another voice was heard on the issue.

Our society, with its reliance on quick, painless fixes for everything, is a fertile ground for all sorts of pills and unproven treatments. We very quickly grasped onto electric shock therapy even when it was more torture than carefully thought out therapy. We likewise have taken a shining to ritalin and anti-depressant drugs even when true clinical depression is not present. I know of many individuals who are now on a regular regimen of pills simply because life did not turn out to be as perfect as they thought it would be. That having been said, let me tell you that I have a cousin who is schizophrenic. She tried every drug known to mankind but nothing helped her until a few years ago when the newest type of psycho-active drugs went into use. She is not a wonderful specimen of mental health but she is able to walk around, go to a job and gain some enjoyment out of life. She is a Quaker an many of those who belong to her religion do not like these kinds of drugs. They have gone so far as to convince her to stop taking them every once in a while. Each time she ends up in the hospital with another episode. Also, her brother is bipolar and takes Lithium. Without that drug taken in proper quantities, he would have killed himself long ago. Today he is basically functional.

Today, the FDA is issuing a warning about anti-depressants and the possibility that they may lead to suicide. You may find this ironic since presumably the remedy is causing the problem it is intended to cure. I once took an anti-depressant in order to quit smoking. I think I took it for a month or so and was able to get down to three or four cigarettes each day without expending any effort to try and quit. That would have been great except that the drug was so good that I only needed to sleep about an hour each day. And I really felt just soooo good that I cannot begin to tell you. But while I was feeling so good, I nearly assassinated my wife and children for making noise, any noise whatsoever. So I decided that smoking was not quite as bad as committing murder or raising children to be suicidal wrecks. If I want to quit smoking, I am just going to have to do it the old fashioned way.

So what I'm getting at here is that while I personally know that psycho-active drugs actually do help some people, they are far overused in our society. The ramifications of this overuse is serious enough for intelligent minds to study it. I welcome the voice of Cruise and Scientologists telling us that we should not just pop a pill. We are inundated far too frequently by television commercials which advocate the easy, potentially harmful way.