RELIGION AND MENTAL ILLNESS!!!

by ADJUSTMENTS 34 Replies latest jw friends

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  rebel8

  One of the reasons for widespread misunderstanding of behavioral health conditions is pop psychology. People say, "I'm depressed", and think having the blues when some rather trivial life event happens is the same thing as clinical depression. This does a great disservice to people with actual mental illness by greatly minimizing their symptoms and causes, and eliminating the opportunity to understand physical causes. Just one example.
  

  It's kind of like saying you and your neighbor both have heart disease, when what you have is a self-diagnosed heart murmur and your neighbor is dying from Congestive Heart Failure.

  Ignoranceisbliss, I think you're on the right track with your hypothesis. There are also known risk factors that are more prevalent within dubbery (stress, lifestyle), and protective factors that are minimized within it.

  
  

  

  
  
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  Bugbear

  Rebel and ignorance.

  good thinking, LOL...But Rebel, In fact several of those I know claiming that they have a depression, have got their pills by a professional MD. In my country anyway this medical doctors must have a made cerious diagnos before desqription. So I figure that their depression is not the "light version" in fact I know a CO that offered me the pills.... And I know that he very ofter "cancelled" his speaches both in the cong. and at assemblies..

  Bugbear
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  ADJUSTMENTS

  Reading some of the comments it seems some of you at this time are experiencing cognitive dissonance: the mental stress or discomfort experienced by an individual who holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values at the same time, or is confronted by new information that conflicts with existing beliefs, ideas, or values.

  
  

  Since some of us would like to try and believe that the JW/WBATS organization is not causing mental illness through bi-polar delusions and schizophrenia that you then try to RATIONALIZE why the need of a MD is so important? A person with a piece of paper (college degree) is unnecessary when the issues are so blatant and are right before us at every meeting, so no, you do not need to be a rocket scientist to see the issues, you may just need an eye doctor...
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  Ignoranceisbliss

  Adjustments.     You said most JWs are mentally ill or unstable.    That's a bunch of crap.      Just like someone who says that if you send your kid to a KH they will get molested.     Most JWs are brainwashed and some are mentally ill.    
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  Phizzy

  There is a difference between many real mental illnesses and delusions, as Rebel pointed out.

  Delusions may be evidence of a mental condition worthy of treatment, but often are not.

  However, I do think Island Man hit the nail on the head when he said the reluctance of the Medical professionals in the field of mental health to rank religious delusion alongside many other delusions, is their reluctance to call a spade a spade.

  Not that religious delusion need be treated necessarily, but it would be helpful to be honest about its nature.
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  Billy the Ex-Bethelite

  For me, I found that medication somewhat dulled the pain of cognitive dissonance. After I left bethel, the pain just got worse as I got to know lots of "worldly people"... very good and nice people that would never wish me any harm... yet my religion was teaching me that they all deserved to die horrible deaths so I could have a pet panda.
  

  After I stopped attending meetings, that mental pain started to clear. Now that I have my degree and a great job, life is completely different.

  I don't think I was medicated for a mental illness, it was all to dull the pain of the WT belief system.
  
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  Oubliette

  
  

  Mental illnesses are serious conditions that can only be diagnosed by a trained medical professional experienced in dealing with the specific disorders under question.

  So unless your a licensed psychologist, psychiatrist or a member of the Governing Body, refrain from doling out medical diagnoses without a first-hand evaluation.

  BTW, we should all be in awe of the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses because they are able to diagnose "mental disease" without even personally examining the individuals that have it. Must be God's Holy Spirit!

  
  
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  rebel8

  A person with a piece of paper (college degree)
  

  This is a false equivocation and reveals bias.
  

  the issues are so blatant and are right before us
  

  Most people here do not deny there are issues. (Please refer to my previous 10,000 posts where I stated them.)

  What I'm are saying is you are characterizing the actual issue as something it is not.

  Let's review: It's a controlling cult--evil, dishonest, abusive and destructive. That's what it is, and when we realize that, we can deal with the actual problem.
  
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  Heaven

  A few years ago, a nurse came to my Dad's home to conduct some cognitive tests on my Dad (MoCA,Trail Making Test, and MMSE). At that time he was 83 years old, had been a JW for over 25 years, and had been retired for some time (he took early retirement at age 55). He was definitely exhibiting signs of depression as well as dementia.

  The nurse told me that they are finding common risk factors amongst people who suffer from dementia/alzheimers. She listed these for me:

  - Lack of post secondary school education

  - Chronic Depression

  - Long term substance abuse including smoking
  

  - Poor lifestyle habits such as bad diet and poor physical activity

  From the Alzheimer's Society website ( http://www.alzheimer.ca/en/About-dementia/Alzheimer-s-disease/Risk-factors ), they list:

  A healthy lifestyle can help reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. It has been estimated that up to half the cases of Alzheimer’s disease worldwide may be the result of seven key modifiable risk factors: diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, smoking, depression, cognitive inactivity or low education, and physical inactivity.
  
  What can I do to maintain or improve my brain health?
  
  • Be physically active
  • Avoid smoking and excessive alcohol consumption
  • Track your numbers: keep your blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar and weight within recommended ranges
  • Stay connected socially and interact regularly with others
  • Make healthy food choices, eat a well-balanced and healthy diet rich in cereals, fish, legumes and vegetables
  • Reduce stress
  • Challenge your brain by trying something new, playing games or learning a new language
  • Protect your head by wearing a helmet when you engage in sporting activities
  

  Of course there is a genetic link as well (and a test one can take to see if one has the genetic marker) but  there are several risk factors that JWs would be prone to. I have/had at least 3 JW family members who suffer(ed) from mental illness.There may be more family members but I don't know as they don't have much to do with me.
  
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  steve2

  To make comparisons of rates of "mental illness" between JWs and "the general population",  you actually have to have on hand two sets of statistics (at the very least): 

  1. Prevalence rates of spefic mental health disorders (e.g., mood disorders,  anxiety disorders, psychotic disorders, personality disorders, etc) for the general population. In the States, these can be found in the public data-base of the Center for Disease Control (I think that's the source but I do not live in the states);

  2. Prevalence rates of those very same mental health disorders among JWs. Note: Prevalence rates are not based on opinions, observations or educated guesswork but are derived from very targeted surveys.

  Beyond these necessary starting points, researchers would need to differentiate JWs who recently developed disorders from those with family-histories of mental illnesses (regardless of whether others in family are JWs), active from non-active Witnesses, those who were mentally disordered prior to membership etc.

  In short, such comparisons require systematic comparisons, holding constant several key varisbles so that fair and sound conclusions can be reached. It would be an enormous undertaking - and to my knowledge, has never ever been done.

  Yet, the remarkable ease of claiming JWs have higher rates of mental illness than the general population persists - and none of the so-called professional "estimates" have ever grappled with - or even acknowledged! - the thorny issues briefly mentioned above that make comparisons damn hard, if not impossible in light of the dearth of basic comparative studies between JWs and "the general population".