While Tom Cruise has treaded carefully to avoid any controversial topics as he promotes 'Valkyrie', Jim Carrey appears to be taking a different route.
In an appearance on CNN, Jim Carrey -- who has battled depression since childhood -- told Larry King that he doesn't believe Prozac helps in the long run.
"At the risk of like opening up the whole Tom Cruise Prozac argument, you know, I don't disagree in many ways," Carrey said referring to Cruise's outburst on the 'Today' show three years ago. "I think Prozac and things like that are very valuable to people for short periods of time. But I believe if you're on them for an extended period of time, you never get to the problem."
"You never get to see what the problem is, because everything is just kind of OK," he said. "And so, you don't deal. And people deal when they get desperate."
Carrey said he tries to stay away from the anti-depressant and prefers to take supplements: "It is vitamins. But it's also certain elements of the brain like Tyrosine and hydroxytryptophan that they're treating depression with now. It is a natural substance that's in your brain."
"But instead of being a Serotonin inhibitor, which just uses the serotonin you have in Prozac — that just uses the Serotonin you have and it doesn't allow it go back into the receptor, which metabolizes your serotonin after a while and you have to keep taking more and more to feel good -- this actually creates dopamine and creates serotonin."
"It's a wonderful thing. It's amazing. I'm going to talk a lot about it in the near future," said Carrey as he put the topic to rest, following the explanation that was rather sincere and less preaching about the matter.
When asked if there was anything in real life the 'Yes Man' star said 'yes' to that he regretted, Carrey quipped 'You know, I've been married twice.'"
And that was one of the reasons he doesn't plan to marry girlfriend Jenny McCarthy, at least for now: "I love Jenny very much, and we have a great relationship. And we've both been married a couple times... I like it the way it is, and I think she likes it the way it is."
While Tom Cruise has treaded carefully to avoid any controversial topics as he promotes 'Valkyrie', Jim Carrey appears to be taking a different route.
