Jehovah's Witnesses and Mental Health

by Vanderhoven7 30 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  LongHairGal

  HOPELESS1:

  Funny that you should mention ‘Stepford Wives’ because that is the impression I got from the women in the congregation I first went to.

  They were nice enough but I felt I was in a 1950s time warp. I came in as a young working woman and was regarded as an oddity. As born-ins they could never have understood or related to me.. What I saw was generational ignorance. They were the children of sheltered families, and so on.

  The ‘honeymoon and love bombing’ phase came to a sudden stop when they realized I would not conform by quitting my full-time job to take up the approved housecleaning/ full time ministry.. Nope, that was not going to happen. I made other ‘concessions’ but I couldn’t bring myself to do that.

  I suppose it was all downhill at this point and it’s a wonder I lasted there as long as I did. I can thank ‘1995’ for bringing it to an end. But, at least, I held onto my job until Retirement.
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  Tendrillar2022

  I think one of the saddest things about JW women is that they are supposed to pretend they live in this perfect 50s household where the man is the benevolent king and breadwinner, etc........ but so many of them end up doing low paying jobs like housecleaning just so the household can survive, meanwhile acting like the man makes all the money and is the best provider/elder/MS ever! The strain on mental health must be tremendous.

  My aunt just about went over the edge bonkers trying to do so many cleaning jobs while pioneering and making my (less than brilliant) elder uncle look like he was the "breadwinner" and perfect husband. She was always depressed but wouldn't take medication regularly, because she felt it showed lack of trust in Jehovah.

  She had a heart attack and later died - at 59.

  He got remarried a few months later to a much younger sister.

  Ugh.
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  Biahi

  I clearly remember (for whatever reason) I sat without my parents, toward the front of the hall. That particular program, the elder on the platform, read that scripture where Jesus says, “Take my yoke, because my yolk is kindly and my load is light.” The elder then, with a gesture, stated, “See, the load is light.” I knew the load was heavy, I turned around to look at all the faces behind me did not agree with him, either.

  Funny, talking about facial expressions, I came back to the hall for my dad’s funeral. I successfully faded, about 10 years before. My husband was by my side, my toddler daughter on my hip. Many witnesses expressed condolences to me, but their faces looked jealous. Because I was free! And they were slaves. 🙁
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  Foolednomore

  You would have to have some sort of mental problem to continue being a Jw. Since the Org preys on these type oof people.
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  Beth Sarim

  Yes the Borg smells out those with mental problems and exploits them.
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  Rivergang

  There is some considerable debate about whether or not chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a psychosomatic disease.

  Certainly - in my time at least - it was prevalent amongst the JWs. For example, back in 1990, it was estimated that 5% of the publishers in our circuit were affected by this condition. It was noteworthy, too, that it seemed to affect mainly the most "zealous" of the JWs - the "pioneers", missionaries and similar.

  Significantly, since breaking with that lot 28 years ago, I have only ever known of one person who suffers from this illness.

  CFS used to be called the "Yuppie Disease". It might as well also be named the "Dubbie Disease"!
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  Beth Sarim

  "Dubbie disease""....too funny.🤣
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  Lee Marsh

  When you have to turn off your brain and your emotions to exist within a high control group people WILL develop mental health issues. The longer you are in the group, the more serious the problems might become.
• 

  Nathan Natas

  Where did Dr. Bergman earn his multitude accreditations? Maybe one of his myriad fans can list his CV.

  Jerry is or was a follower of Mr. Duane Magnani, who is eager to help anyone who has money and is willing to bend a knee to Mr. Magnani's version of Christianity.

  REAL helpers, like Carl Olof Jonsson, Ray Franz, Atlantis, Alan F and Farkel don't seek ego inflation from diploma mills, nor do they ask an oath of fealty from those who seek them out.
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  vienne

  Somewhere, (I'm not hunting for it) I read that one of his degrees was related to security issues. I don't know if that's accurate. He is a well-known young-earth creationist. The quality of his writing is pretty much indifferent.

  He claims to be a Fellow of the American Scientific Affiliation. They do not award Fellowships.

  i've never pursued his educational claims which are::

  Education

  • M.S.O.H. (Master of Science in Occupational Health), Medical College of Ohio, Toledo, Ohio, 2004.
  • M.P.H. M.P.H. (Master of Science in Public Health), Northwest Ohio Consortium for Public Health (Medical College of Ohio, Toledo, Ohio; University of Toledo, Toledo, Ohio; Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio), 2001.
  • M.S.B.S. (Master of Science in Biomedical Science), Medical College of Ohio, Toledo, Ohio, 1999.
  • Ph.D. in human biology, Columbia Pacific University, San Rafael, California, 1992. [An infamous diploma mill.]
  • M.A. in social psychology, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio, 1986.
  • Ph.D. in measurement and evaluation, minor in psychology, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, 1976.
  • M.Ed. in counseling and psychology, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, 1971.
  • B.S., Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, 1970. Major area of study was sociology, biology, and psychology.
  • A.A. in Biology and Behavioral Science, Oakland Community College, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, 1967.