The Mental Health of Jehovah's Witnesses
http://www.rickross.com/reference/jw/jw72.html
By John Spencer
Summary
The function of religion in human society is complex. The part played by religion in psychiatric disorders is even more obscure. Previous literature and theories are divided into two groups: one school believes that intense religiosity is a symptom-complex indicative of psychiatric disorder, while the opposing view is that religious belief in some way acts as a defense mechanism protecting the individual and his psyche.
The present study of 50 Jehovah's Witnesses admitted to the Mental Health Service facilities of Western Australia suggests that members of this section of the community are more likely to be admitted to a psychiatric hospital than the general population. Furthermore, followers of the sect are three times more likely to be diagnosed as suffering from schizophrenia and nearly four times more likely from paranoid schizophrenia than the rest of the population at risk.
These findings suggest that being a member of the Jehovah's Witnesses faith may be a risk factor predisposing to a schizophrenic illness. Further studies would be interesting in investigating whether pre-psychotic people are more likely to join the sect than normal people and what part (if any) membership has in bringing about such a breakdown.
Many of us have an occasion surprised ourselves at our rather impulsive, discourteous behavior when faced with the persistent insistence of members of the Jehovah's Witnesses sect. The firm conviction with which they not only adhere to their beliefs but also incriminate us, the unrequested listener, is rather disquieting. Any attempt to dissuade them logically is frequently met with a further monologue of their inflexible belief system.
Many sociologists have turned their attention to the phenomena associated with religion and religious factors, but there have been remarkably few studies correlating choice of religious belief with personality or mental disorder.
Sargant (1957-70) states that sudden dramatic conversions are most likely to occur in simple stable extraverts, while Clark (1929) found that 55 per cent of individuals experiencing a sudden conversion suffered a sense of guilt compared to 8 ½ per cent of his total sample under study.
Roberts (1965) in a further study found that those whose conversion was sudden and towards the faith of their parents had high scores on the EPI neuroticism scale. Graff and Ladd (1970)m administering the Personal Orientation Inventory and Dimensions of Religious Commitment forms to 163 male students, found an inverse relationship between 'self-actualization' and religiosity.
Freud (1913) saw religion as an attempt to gain control over the sensory world by means of the wish world and as an attempt to place upon God that dependence which had originally been upon the father. Thus he saw it as a symptom of neurosis. Other analysts, however, have extended this approach to include psychotic disorders. Fenichel (1946) states that religious delusions as a rule are rooted in longings for salvation together with attempts to master overwhelming indestructible, schizophrenic sensations by verbalizing them. Fromm (1960) supports this theory and postulates that religious ideas fulfill at least four economic functions:
1. A symbolic means of communications;
2. Self-preservation;
3. To silence the individual's anxiety;
4. As a positive creative function.
As a result of his searching studies, Jung (1933) felt that man possessed a natural religious function and that his psychic health and stability depended on the proper expression of this, just as much as on the expression of the instincts. It was an essential feature of religion to give conscious expression of the archetypes. Consequently the nature of the religious expression indicated that disturbance the individual was experiencing with the unconscious. Jung thus differed from the classifical analysts in pointing out that one could not generalize about religiosity, as this in itself was a very varied phenomenon.
Doubt has been cast on analytical theory by several workers. Thus Lane (1968), in a study of go patients, attempted to measure the 'Degree of Concern for Religion', and correlated this with the results on the Edwards Personal Preference schedule. He concluded: 'It now appears that it is more promising conceptually to regard religious concern as being related to various functional psychological needs than it is to cast it aside as being a symptom of psychopathology or as being a negative prognostic sign of recovery.'
Boison (1952) puts forward a convincing argument that religion is highly personalized affair, and he provides clinical evidence that even bizarre types of religiosity can be converted into constructive channels when such an intense religious experience is successfully related to unmet psychological needs.
Lloyd (1973) states categorically that religion is a coping device and can be regarded as normal or symptomatic. In the latter situation the individual 's normal devices fail or their integration is threatened and the change is usually towards the more enthusiastic, irrational, fundamental and emotive sects where the psychotic patient may well be supported, protected and hidden from society. However, he fails to explain how he has reached this conclusion.
The principal problem seems to be to decide whether extreme religiosity such as is seen in the so-called 'neurotic sects' (Northridge, 1968) is a symptom of an overt psychiatric disorder, or whether it is a complex defense mechanism against an underlying disorder.
The Jehovah's Witnesses sect was started by Charles Tage Russell in 1872. He proved to be a man of doubtful integrity, but the movement has spread around the world. It is not necessary for the purpose of this paper to describe the organization's structure, but its members ardently believe that the world as we know it is shortly to cease and that only those few who have rigorously obeyed their creed will gain eternal salvation with Jehovah. Each Witness believes it is his personal duty and responsibility to bring these facts to the notice of everyone he comes in contact with, and to make an attempt to save them from eternal earthly existence.
Their principles and ideas are inferred from what conventional Christians would regard as an arbitrary selection of texts from the Bible. Some of these selections are so oblique and tangential that they seem best understood as misinterpretations or even false ideas of reference.
The sect does not appear to place much emphasis on sex or guilt, and it denies the existence of Hell. If this belief system has a psychiatric parallel, Northcott's adjective 'neurotic' is inaccurate and the terms 'psychotic' or 'paranoid' would appear to be more appropriate. It seemed of interest to investigate and attempt to clarify some of these hypotheses by a study of psychiatric disorder among members of this - or of any other - extreme religious sect.
During the period of 36 months from January 1971 to December 1973 there were 7,546 inpatient admissions to the West Australian Mental Health Service Psychiatric Hospitals. Of these 50 were reported to be active members of the Jehovah's Witnesses movement. It was not known what proportion of these were respectively converts or second generation members.
The number of Jehovah's Witnesses in Western Australia was stated by their official agency, Kingdom Hall, to be approximately 4,000. The total population of Western Australia on 1 January 1973 was 1,068,469, the majority (750,000) living in the greater Metropolitan area of Perth City. As in most Australian cities, the population consists principally of native-born Australians and of a large group of immigrants, mainly from Europe, but with minorities from other areas also. Western Australia also has approximately 20,000 Aborigines.
Of the 50 admitted 22 were diagnosed as schizophrenic, 17 as paranoid schizophrenic, to as neurotic and one as alcoholic.
Table I
Admissions for schizophrenia 1973
Annual Annual Total rate per Jehovah's rate per admission 1,000 Witnesses 1,000 population admissions population All diagnosis 7,546 2.54 50 4.17 Schizophrenia (295) 1,826 .61 22 1.83 Paranoid Schizophrenia (195.3) 1,154 .38 17 1.4 Neurosis (300) 1,182 .39 10 .76 Discussion
From the figures gathered in the Table it is clear that members of the Jehovah's Witnesses movement are over-represented in admissions to the Mental Health Services of this State. Furthermore, it is clear from the Table that the incidence of schizophrenia amongst them is about three times as high as for the rest of the general population. (These figures are all statistically significant at the .001 level by x 2 test.)
A further finding that has come to light is that the admission rate for paranoid schizophrenia appears to be higher in Western Australia than in a comparable English area (Plymouth, 1972). This finding has been noted before in areas where there has been
Table II
Comparative admissions for schizophrenia 1973
Admissions for schizophrenia and paranoid schizophrenia as a percentage of all admissions for 1973 Western Australia Plymouth (England) (n = 2,635) (n = 1,246) Schizophrenia 675 (25%) 249 (20%) Paranoid schizophrenia 448 (17%) 84 (6.7%) immigration from different cultures Kraus (1969). The mechanism underlying this finding are presumably of a complex psychosocial nature and need not be discussed here. However, they are of some interest as in the English area there is also a lower reported following of the Jehovah's Witnesses movement.
If it is argued correctly that the function of religion is preservation of the ego and the silencing of anxiety, and that conventional religiosity is an expression of a healthy psyche, then extreme religious views may represent a form of expression of a psychotic disorder.
As mentioned earlier, the experience of guilt in religious behavior other than in sudden conversion has not been studied to the knowledge of the writer and could also be a subject for further investigation.
Also illuminating would be comparison of the data for converted Jehovah's Witnesses with those for subjects who have derived their faith from their parents. The study does not shed light on the question of symptom or defense mechanism, but suggests that either the Jehovah's Witnesses sect tends to attract an excess of pre-psychotic individuals who may then break down, or else being a Jehovah's Witness is itself a stress which may precipitate a psychosis. Possibly both of these factors may operate together.
Karl Marx once remarked that religion was the opiate of the people. Is it possible that the schizophrenic, with his thoughts in a turmoil and plagued with doubts about his identity and ideas of reference, is able to gain the support of a non-pharmacological tranquilizer from membership of a sect such as Jehovah's Witnesses? If so, mental health workers and religious leaders should perhaps take a fresh look at the structure and function of these and other related groups.
Acknowledgments
The author wishes to express his thanks to Dr. John Gilroy, of Moorhaven Hospital, Plymouth, for his advice and to Mrs. Sheila Lawry of the same hospital for assisting with the collection of figures. I am also grateful to Professor Alan German of the Department of Psychiatry, University of Western Australia, for his constructive criticism of the text.
References
BOLSON, A. (1952) Exploration of the Inner World, New York: Hauber.
CLARK, E.T. (1929) The Psychology of Religious Awakening. New York: Macmillan.
FENICHEL, O. (1946) The Psychoanalytical Theory of Neurosis. London Routledge and Kegan Paul.
FROMM, E. (1960) Psychoanalysis and Religion. New York: Holt Rinehart & Winston,
Inc.
GRAFF, R.W. & LADD, C.E. (1970) POI Correlates of a Religious Commitment
Inventory. Southern Illinois University Press.
JUNO, C.G. (1933) Modern Man in Search of a Soul. New York: Harcourt and Brace &
Co.
KRAUS, J. (1969) Some social factors and rates of psychiatric hospital admissions of
immigrants in New South Wales. Medical Journal of Australia, ii. 17.
LANE, M. (1968) Journal of Social Psychology, 75, 261-8.
LLOYD, J.H. (1973) Religion and insanity. Australian and New Zealand Journal of
Psychiatry. 7, 193.
NORTHRIDGE (1968) Psychiatry in Pastoral Practice.
PLYMOUTH (1972) Moorhaven Hospital Diagnostic Index. Personal communication.
ROBERTS, F.J. (1965) British Journal of Social Psychology. 4, 185-7.
SARGANT, W. (1957) Battle for the Mind. London: Heinemann (reprinted in Pan Books
1970).
WEST AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT, Department of Statistics, Perty (1973)
Also of relevance:
ALLPORT, G.W. & MACMILLAN (1959) The Individual and his Religion.
HAEKEMA, A.A. (1963) The Four Major Cults.
John Spencer, M.B., Ch.B., M.R.C. Psych., Consultant Psychiatrist, Heathcote Hospital, Applecross 6153, Western Australia.
(Received to June 1974)
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half-way house for ex-Jdubs
by tula 54 Replies latest jw experiences
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purplesofa
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shopaholic
...many of those he studied lacked an education, job skills, emotional stability, and quality social relations. Unsatisfactory employment records often existed because of psychological deficiencies, lack of ability or immaturity. Rylander found that Witnesses committed "...a relatively large number of small crimes and other misdemeanors which generally resulted only in a fine...three [Witnesses] have been imprisoned for stealing or harboring of stolen property, and 36 have been fined for various offenses (traffic violations, drunkenness, unlawful selling of alcohol, poaching, unlawful entering, etc.)" [9]
Neurotic symptoms commonly found in his sample included "feelings of discomfort, general anxiety, poor sleep habits, times of brooding over what they see as the meaninglessness of life, the wrongs they have suffered and the mistakes they have made." [10] Rylander noted that the Watchtower doctrine helped some adherents to explain "all of their problems in life, and has given them a satisfaction and calmness which has brought a measure of stability to their lives." [11]
He also concluded that individual Witnesses tended to be burdened with a variety of serious concerns and often joined the sect in an effort to solve their many problems. Although the results of this study are not fully applicable to today's situation, many of his conclusions are still largely true. [12] A major difference between his sample and today is that the Witnesses are now more middle-class and less socially rejected. Many Witnesses, though, especially those living in developing nations, still experience many of the same problems that Rylander reported.
Coffee, your link has too many good quotes to post them all so hopefully folks will give it a read. We could probably get more accurate stats if most of us sought the mental help we need. I know I could use a little therapy.
But on a more personal note, when my sister was about 16 she thought she was going crazy because she didn't believe in the JW stuff anymore. She would cry constantly because she didn't understand why it didn't make sense to her. So my mom talked with the elders and the CO and they told my mom its just a teenage phase. Anyway, my sister went for a routine physical and the doctor suggested my sister see a physciatrist. So my mom took her to one and the physciatrist told my mom that the JW religion was driving my sister crazy. My mom asked the physciatrist to take out the JW factor and the physciatrist said she couldn't because that was the factor. So my mom agreed to put my sister on meds "to help her adjust". My mom informed the CO and he instructed the elders to call my 16-year-old sister everyday to pray and read the bible with her every morning. They did this for about 3 or 4 months. Then a few months later when my sister started regular pioneering, they were sure it was their phone calls and Jehovah's healing hand. It was the prozac. My sister came off the prozac about a year later and has been regular pioneering ever since (about 16 years now). She still has strong doubts and a number of regrets and "forces herself to believe" (her words not mine). Her husband is a well-known elder with as many years as pioneering and he is 110% JW.
I personally know several witnesses (male and female) that take medication to help them "cope with life". All of them have told me that their doctors said it was the religion and that they understand why the society doesn't want witnesses to seek mental help because the doctor's first solution is to leave the JW religion.
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shopaholic
Purps,
I'm watching the nutrition and behavior video now. I might be jumping the gun a bit but I definitely believe this could be a contributing factor in JWs. One of their main recreations is eating and exercise is a low priority. At my last circuit pioneer meeting, which was September of last year, the CO mentioned that the society was concerned because too many of the pioneers were overweight. He mentioned that the pioneers take too many snack breaks, eat too much sugar and don't exercise enough, etc. He also noted that more and more pioneers were suffering from depression and that starting an exercise program could help alleviate depression. I remember being surprised that he would actually acknowledge this from the platform.
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tula
But on a more personal note, when my sister was about 16 she thought she was going crazy because she didn't believe in the JW stuff anymore. She would cry constantly because she didn't understand why it didn't make sense to her. So my mom talked with the elders and the CO and they told my mom its just a teenage phase. Anyway, my sister went for a routine physical and the doctor suggested my sister see a physciatrist. So my mom took her to one and the physciatrist told my mom that the JW religion was driving my sister crazy. My mom asked the physciatrist to take out the JW factor and the physciatrist said she couldn't because that was the factor. So my mom agreed to put my sister on meds "to help her adjust". My mom informed the CO and he instructed the elders to call my 16-year-old sister everyday to pray and read the bible with her every morning. They did this for about 3 or 4 months. Then a few months later when my sister started regular pioneering, they were sure it was their phone calls and Jehovah's healing hand. It was the prozac. My sister came off the prozac about a year later and has been regular pioneering ever since (about 16 years now). She still has strong doubts and a number of regrets and "forces herself to believe" (her words not mine). Her husband is a well-known elder with as many years as pioneering and he is 110% JW.
Shopper, this is sooo sad. I have seen similar situations with JWs I have encountered, though they are older. It seems the ones I know either zombie-up and parrot or they must be prodded with meds. I am so sorry she was denied freedom of thought, which is and should be a basic inherent human right. We are guaranteed freedom from thought control in the first amendment of constitution, but because of the church/state separation, it does not apply in this situation. Absurd, huh? So sorry she could not shake it off when she was older. I guess the meds help to correct any individuality one might show. Or maybe she just finally gave up trying to justify the nonsense and went along to make life easier?
CO mentioned that the society was concerned because too many of the pioneers were overweight. He mentioned that the pioneers take too many snack breaks, eat too much sugar and don't exercise enough,
I suppose more field work out walking was recommended for the exercise. Actually, I have wondered when overweight people might start getting attacked for "gluttony" sins. I heard some talk about disciplinary action for the overweight a while back, but don't think it will ever happen because too many of the overweight are the ones in charge of everything!
Purps, thanks for your time and effort on the documentation materials.
I am wondering why these studies seem to be Australia. And wondering if there are any USA studies? I can't help but think that psychologists and psychiatrists have noticed a definite pattern with cult groups to start such articulate research...and to even break it down according to the particular cult --JW's! Surely there must be figures that are more current.
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tula
Most people who have come away from a cult experience, family and friends of cult victims, and experts in behavioral science familiar with cultism agree that mind control techniques sustained even for short periods of time can cause damage to a person's social, physiological, and psychological well-being. If not interrupted, drastic (and sometimes pathological) changes in personality occur and are potentially irreversible. Even if the encounter with such programs of manipulation is brief and exit from them successful, the experience can ruin lives. Apart from these dangers, experts suggest a real threat to society exists in the form of harm to the family relationship, espousal of illegal and harmful practices, and a potential for violence. [14]
http://www.csj.org/infoserv_articles/van_hoey_sara_cults_in_court.htm
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AWAKE&WATCHING
mark for later
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BIG D
I have seen thi shappen several times, my old friend was a bethlite and so was his new wife, became pioneers and elder, and she got on depression meds, she was having alot of seemingly mental problems, i spoke with her about it, she said she always knew it wasnt the truth, but always felt like more service would fix any doubts.
So she always did more, kids came, did more servivce, more meds, she called herself, an elders widow, and is the reason i never became an elder, because he was being used so much never home.
She left him last year ,42, divorced, and moved in with a plumber that worked for her builder husband, in a trailer by the lake, and said the truth sucked the life out of her, she was a truly good herated person, as was he, of course all shocked, kids wont speak to her, dfd, all family in , she is truly alone.
Another broken family , the victim of the trof, that sucks all your life out and spits you out into a world, we have never been a part of, and no emotional support factors, and even after all that , we feel guilty for not goin back, because of the ingrained teachings of the org.
isolated and most times alone, we, some, grab ahold of the first person that shows an interest, however unsuitable he or she may be.
big d
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purplesofa
shopoholic
Purps,
I'm watching the nutrition and behavior video now. I might be jumping the gun a bit but I definitely believe this could be a contributing factor in JWs. One of their main recreations is eating and exercise is a low priority. At my last circuit pioneer meeting, which was September of last year, the CO mentioned that the society was concerned because too many of the pioneers were overweight. He mentioned that the pioneers take too many snack breaks, eat too much sugar and don't exercise enough, etc. He also noted that more and more pioneers were suffering from depression and that starting an exercise program could help alleviate depression. I remember being surprised that he would actually acknowledge this from the platform.
I remember when I first started going back to meetings. It was all I could do to sit for an hour, let alone two straight hours. Saturday morning service, another 3 hours in a car, getting out maybe 2/3 times from the car.
There is nothing balanced about the JW lifestyle.
So, after seeing the video, what did you think?
purps
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edited to add:
play nice people.
this message seems to pop up on threads rosalee posts on......
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Shawn10538
There is a place in the DSM-IV that describes Schizophrenia as a by product of being in and exiting from cults. My thrapist showed it to me. it is also referred to in Steven Hassan's book. So, no, Schizophrenia is not 100% a genetic disorder. There is no mental disorder that is exclusively genetic and has no causal relationship with environment.
In other words, having the genetic pre-disposition for schizophrenia does not ensure that one is going to show signs of schizophrenia. It is not a disease that you can catch or "come down with." it is deeply related to stressors. In other words, it can be triggered or nurtured by one's environment. In other words, there are people walking around who, genetically speaking, have schizophrenia and they don't know it. Nobody knows it. Until, they encounter a sufficient stressor in their lives that brings out the symptoms. That is why people are generally not "born with schizophrenia" they develop it over time. Or, they may devlop it over night due to some powerful trauma like war. -
tula
it is deeply related to stressors. In other words, it can be triggered or nurtured by one's environment. In other words, there are people walking around who, genetically speaking, have schizophrenia and they don't know it. Nobody knows it. Until, they encounter a sufficient stressor in their lives that brings out the symptoms. That is why people are generally not "born with schizophrenia" they develop it over time. Or, they may devlop it over night due to some powerful trauma like war.
That's what I think, too, Shawn. But I found some disagreement with that here on the board. So people wanted more proof.
Please spell out the book you mentioned. Thanks.