Politipidity

The Curch of Scientology versus a little pill

Another letter to 'The Great Undiagnosed':

To MSNBC

I am writing in reference to Matt Lauer's interview with Tom Cruise on the Today Show.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8343367/

Every reporter knows how imperative it is to give both sides of an issue equal consideration and equal exposure.

Apparently, this is not a requirement for members of Scientology.

Frankly, I don't know how Matt Lauer held it together in response to Cruise's remark "You don't know the history of psychiatry, I do."

Unfortunately, Tom's understanding of the history of psychiatry is bent and learned on a skew. In other words, he has studied it through the closed vacuum of Scientology.

Those of us in the trenches have learned about chemical imbalance from within another vacuum: the skewed bend of reality. It is manifested by experience; up close and personal. Our understanding of psychiatry matters far more than any comment by any individual who has never had to stand over a loved one watching them come apart in front of their own eyes.

I am the mother of an adult Paranoid Schizophrenic and I am appalled at the wholly irresponsible fashion with which Cruise has diminished the miraculous outcome of millions of Americans who thank God every day there is a little pill that can guard their loved one against suicide, homelessness, unspeakable fear and mental torture. It is unquestionably, a tortured existence the rest of the 'Worried well' can only imagine.

The following link has a video clip with a simulated version of what this disease can do to a once normal, healthy, mind:

http://www.npr.org/programs/atc/features/2002/aug/schizophrenia/

Furthermore, as a celebrity, Tom Cruise has created enormous damage by denouncing the medical breakthroughs that have ressurected the lives of so many people like my son.

His remarks to an international audience have fed into the 'Lack of Insight' that millions of people suffer from as a symptom of mental illness. The following link on the lack of insight explains precisely why his comments are so dangerous:

Http://www.lackofinsightmi.org

My son has a disease in his brain. He did nothing to deserve it. I, his mother could not have prevented it any more than I could have prevented a brain tumor.

But I do have to live with it for the rest of my life and so does my son. Medication is the only tool we have to bring any order back from the chaos this disease creates, or to lessen the suffering it inflicts on millions of people and their families.

I am especially grateful toward and would like to thank ABC News for their attempt to balance the playing field with the following two articles:

ABC's Reality Distortions: Balancing the Mind in Schizophrenia

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Healthology/story?id=731880

ABC's Caring for a Loved One With Schizophrenia

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Healthology/story?id=817990

But it isn't enough. This snowball is rolling down the hill and millions of people are counting on you to stop it.

I suggest it is MSNBC's professional responsibility to provide wide coverage on the disease of Schizophrenia and the truth about the miracles of modern medicine in it's attempt to treat this horrific disease. Specifically, how far we have come and the many miles of road that stretch out before us we still need to journey through. Most importantly, that there is help out there and it is found in a pill.

Almost anything you could possibly need to know or reference to do this can be found at:

http://www.schizophrenia.com

Let's see if we can undo some of the damage.

Sincerely,

Just another Mother who relies on a pill to keep her son alive.


cc: ABCNEWS.com EDITORIALAL
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ATT: Matt Lauer
Today@NBC.com