JW's and mental illness...stats?

by mikepence 24 Replies latest jw friends

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  outoftheorg

  Every one in my family, mother,brother,sisters had emotional problems. My father did not. He never beame a jw. I thought I had lucked out and then at the time I wanted out I came down with severe depression. My ex and my children had problems. All of them that left jw's have improved and got over the depression etc.

  I have no reliable statistics but my observations of others in the org. leads me to believe that mental problems of one or another kind are rampant in jw's

  Balistic your mention of the person who died in auto crash brings this to mind.

  For a time I was a sheriffs deputy. At that time at least, all auto crashes involving only one auto and especially if only one occupant was investigated as a possible suicide.

  Those that involved a vehicle suddenly crossing the line into oncoming traffic to colide with a truck were always considered a possible suicide. It was believed that many of the crashes were intentional but not proved.

  So your suspicions may be correct.
• 

  ballistic

  Thanks outoforg, I was quite sure this was the case. I feel exact statistics about suicides and mental disorders will be hard to come by if not impossible - but the anecdotal evidence is over-whelming.
• 

  ErieGuy

  Due to the wellknown fact that JWs do everything possible to secret anything that puts the Borg in a negative light, it is impossible for any researcher to provide an accurate statistic relating to this topic._______

  However, there is NO DOUBT in my mind that whatever mental health statistic one might cite, that one needs to multiply the general population statistic by a factor greater than 1.00 to arrive at the JW statistic._________

  I'm certain that a minimum of 50% of my JW relatives would "concern" a mental health professional if only they would seek help, which to my knowledge, none ever have, except for the folowing instance.________

  A few years back, after relocating to a new Cong, a relative's wife "went bananas", and had to be institutionalized for a short time. Being new to this particular Cong, many of the "locals" were offering their help during this trying time. My relative later told me that during numerous conversations with various Cong members that he discovered that in that Cong roughly 25% of the adult JW females (including elder-ettes and mss-ettes) had been institutionalized within the previous 15 years, and (per his opinion), of the ones who had not, there were several who appeared to need such help.________

  From my own experience, I can't recall ever belonging to a Cong that didn't have at least one elder-ette who had serious mental problems, with most attended Congs having at least 3 or 4 females with mental problems.________

  On the other hand, I can recall only one male that was institutionalized for required help. While I definitely think that the JW culture impacts females more than males, I do not think that such accounts for the large discrepancy between the number of females who finally seek professional help versus the number of males. Whatever the answer is, I'm betting that such would shed some light on the JW's pedophile problem.
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  blondie

  My relative later told me that during numerous conversations with various Cong members that he discovered that in that Cong roughly 25% of the adult JW females (including elder-ettes and mss-ettes) had been institutionalized within the previous 15 years

  Not to make light of mental illness, but it may have been the only "legitimate" way to avoid the meetings and field service, at least for awhile.
• 

  outoftheorg

  Hi ErieGuy.

  I have no doubt that there is more mental/emotional stress placed on the females in jw borg. My ex had problems in this area. We went to a neurologist in Utah and the first question he asked was, are you members of the LDS or Mormon church. I asked him why he asked this and his reply was that the female members had such a high stress level due to the requirements placed upon them that he always would start any therapy by trying to get that load lessened. I think the pressure on jw females is different in as much as where the LDS carry a heavy load of performance matters they do not have the "I can never measure up-never do enough-guilt thing"

  Now that I have said that I must admit that I have no personal knowledge of the LDS possible "guilt factors" Maybe they do have that to deal with.

  U G it is good to hear you are doing well now. I think we should all get together and raise enough money to send you to New Guinea for a vacation. What do you think?