Thursday, June 30, 2005

Cruise and lawmakers battle in a war of the words on mental health  Story at The Hill - "Tom Cruise’s erratic behavior on his recent worldwide publicity tour has been fodder for gossip columnists and late-night talk-show hosts for weeks, but now the movie star’s comments on mental-health issues last week are attracting serious criticism from members of Congress. Appearing on NBC’s Today show to promote his upcoming movie "War of the Worlds," Cruise called psychiatry "a pseudoscience' and dismissed the effectiveness of antidepressants. The Congressional Mental Health Caucus this week criticized his remarks, saying that the celebrity has reinforced negative perceptions." See also Psychiatrists condemn Cruise mental health remarks (Reuters) - "The American Psychiatric Association on Monday sharply criticised actor Tom Cruise for televised remarks ..."   
  

Mental health director is no longer resigning (Hawaii) Hawaii Advertiser story - " A key state mental health official who had said he would resign will now remain on the job. Thomas Hester, head of the Department of Health's Adult Mental Health Division, told staff members and others last week that he would resign. Hester said last week he was resigning because a state attorney told him that he would be losing his authority over the community mental health plan being developed by the state. The change came after discussions among state and federal lawyers. But Hester said yesterday that the lawyer didn't make it clear how definitive that course of action would be..." See also Mental Health Advocates, Patients Decry Resignations (KHNL).