"her mother-twice divorced, mentally unstable, and addicted to prescription drugs-was unable to cope.
Food stamps and welfare payments weren't enough to keep the pantry stocked"
Sounds like the perfect candidate for becoming a JW
All too typical: The "type" of people who are attracted to the Watchtower's loony message join up with their own baggage, loaded down with assorted disorders and hang-ups already in place. Add the Watchtower's simplistic, pressure-cooker judgemental outlook and you have an upbringing made in hell.
This is consistent with my observation/hypothesis that the Watchtower doesn't create mental illness but 'simply' attracts people who are already mentally ill and then gives them good reason to remain mentally ill.
For those of us who had JW parents who were loving and accepting of their children - as my JW parents were - it makes me all the more appreciative of them. Yet, I also know from the congregations I grew up in that the opposite was the norm among far too many JW parents and their hapless children.