Tom Cruise: Unwitting stigma-buster
Well, here I am, back at my desk littered with cereal crumbs, old coffee cups and random slips of paper I know are important but will inevitably be ignored until they get moldy. It's hard to come back from vacation and feel on top of things. But you know what? Vacation is the greatest recharge. I feel clearer and less inclined to judge. Noisy people on the train home from the airport just seemed colorful, rather than annoying. And this morning I didn't even blink as I trudged through the subway halls. I feel high and nonexistent. This jetlag stuff is dope.
My initial task this morning has been to scour the news for the latest mental health salvos. And the first thing I came to, at USA Today, was an article about Tom Cruise being fired by Paramount because of two things: his altercation with Brooke Shields and his anti-psychiatry rants, and his weird relationship with Katie Holmes. While I don't condone his being penalized for the latter, I do feel that there is serious progress to be noted in the midst of this fluffy news item.
To me it indicates that these days, being critical of taking antidepressants is seen as ignorant and insensitive—even to the point that it seems deviant. The norm, then, has become an acceptance of psych meds, and thus further acceptance of those who take them. Talking freely about the need for medication has always been hard for those of us who rely upon them, especially with employers. The pendulum is swinging in a different direction now.
Cruise not of Paramount importance
Tom Cruises mission aborted at studio
Comments
Very nice post, this is mental health gold! Couldn't agree with you more about vacation. I'm a whole new person if I get out of the city for a couple of hours, not to mention a couple of days. Glad to have you back!
Posted by: JTS | August 23, 2006 01:56 PM
Welcome back to the U.S.A.! Isn't it wonderful the way a vacation can make you feel so happy and carefree, even for a little while after you return home? Eventually, though, the responsibilities of everyday life - having to earn a living, pay rent, do laundry, etc. - always take over again. If not for that, you could probably just pretend you were a Spaniard on extended vacation in Philadelphia.
For a lot of people, I think taking an occasional vacation might make the difference between being able to appear sane and not. Many people who take vacations probably wouldn't be able to handle the stresses of everyday life if they didn't, and many people who are overcome by their daily responsibilities probably wouldn't be if they took more frequent vacations. I think maybe the concept of jetlag being unpleasant is something the ruling classes invented just to make the poor think that which they were missing wasn't really that great, so they would be less rebellious (sort of like religion).
Posted by: Kent | August 23, 2006 08:32 PM
Well....
I seem to know far too many people with no mental illness who brag about how stressful their lives are and how heir doctor "had to give" them tranquilizers.
Most of these pills turn out to be prescription-free stuff, and no, they're not seeing a psychiatrist "right now".
'Corse not, he'd tell them to get lost.
Too much acceptance of medicating mental problems sometimes DOES start a trend. Not funny if you're really ill, but everyone around you who merely has a bad day jumps on the band wagon. Sometimes it seems I'm the only person NOT talking about my condition at work, even though I'm the only one on prescription drugs and ongoing therapy.
How ironic.
Posted by: Kat | June 5, 2007 01:45 PM