The recent story about the death of John Travolta’s son prompted me to take a very small look at Scientology; specifically, an interview with Tom Cruise that took place around the time the movie War of the Worlds came out. The media seems to dismiss most of what Tom Cruise said as absurdity; however, there is some truth to what he said, particularly concerning pharmaceuticals and mental illness.

The normal treatment of mental illnesses, not to mention most other illnesses, today is almost entirely pharmaceutical. Tom Cruise is correct when he says that pharmaceuticals are not a cure but only mask the symptoms of an illness. What is needed is to get to the root cause of the illness, which I believe is environmental toxins.

Unlike Scientology, I believe that pharmaceuticals have their place. They should be used temporarily to mask the symptoms while the root cause of the illness is investigated and treated. Pharmaceuticals may also be used in removing the toxins from the sick person.

This approach to mental health, and health in general, is relatively new. It will likely be another 20 years before it is no longer considered controversial, and another 20 years before it is common practice. Unfortunately, while environmental medicine gains creditability, so will Scientology because of a few truths that are currently considered absurd by the mass media. Hopefully more ill persons will be treated with the  true science of environmental medicine and not get sucked into the money making cult of Scientology.