An Illustrated Guide to Mendacity and Folly in the Imperium Americanum by Gregorius alexandrinus, pictor mendacrium stultorumque (Gregory of Alexandria--painter of liars and idiots)
Political cartoons and social commentary with Fred'n'Bert of the Squirrel News Network, Lafayette Park, Washington, DC Updated MWF weekly, except holidays
I came across yet another discussion of Tom Cruise's recent bizarrities and wondered why it was still newsworthy...and decided it was worth a shot :-) Tom's a great actor, and he does some really wonderful stuff in his private life, but I've got to wonder if he truly knows what depression is. I know he's BEEN depressed--as anyone who's dyslexic has been because of the frustration of the condition...but there's a big difference between being depressed about "something" and what we now know as "clinical depression." Yes, vitamins and exercise will help the clinically depressed, but, whereas with being depressed about something, you can work to change the situation that is the cause of the depression or wait until the situation changes so you can move beyond it, you can't DO anything about clinical depression--not in the sense of altering the reality that caused it, because that reality is something physical inside your body chemistry. Anti-depressants are a step forward, certainly way beyond the talking cure (which can only prolong clinical depression if it's unrecognized) or the barbarity of electro-shock. True, they're not perfect and they're not a cure-all, but they are an advance. All drugs have a risk, but the results outweigh the risks for some of us. No, Tom, there is such a thing as a chemical imbalance...
I came across yet another discussion of Tom Cruise's recent bizarrities and wondered why it was still newsworthy...and decided it was worth a shot :-) Tom's a great actor, and he does some really wonderful stuff in his private life, but I've got to wonder if he truly knows what depression is. I know he's BEEN depressed--as anyone who's dyslexic has been because of the frustration of the condition...but there's a big difference between being depressed about "something" and what we now know as "clinical depression." Yes, vitamins and exercise will help the clinically depressed, but, whereas with being depressed about something, you can work to change the situation that is the cause of the depression or wait until the situation changes so you can move beyond it, you can't DO anything about clinical depression--not in the sense of altering the reality that caused it, because that reality is something physical inside your body chemistry. Anti-depressants are a step forward, certainly way beyond the talking cure (which can only prolong clinical depression if it's unrecognized) or the barbarity of electro-shock. True, they're not perfect and they're not a cure-all, but they are an advance. All drugs have a risk, but the results outweigh the risks for some of us. No, Tom, there is such a thing as a chemical imbalance...
