This is a follow-up to my previous post. I went to Google and typed in "jehovah's witnesses and psychosis." On the list of sites that appears, I scrolled down to the "watchtower.observer.org" heading "An eye on jehovah's witnesses"; you have to scroll down a little. They mention that in fact there have been numerous, large studies done on this issue. Ons study found the rate of psychosis among witnesses to be seventeen (17) times higher that the general population.
How Many JWs or ExJWs Have Some Type of Mental Problems?
by minimus 27 Replies latest jw friends
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NewSense
Go the google and type in "jehovah's witnesses and psychosis." Scroll down to the Watchtower.observer.org site, "An eye on the Jehovah's Witnesses." According to one study, the rate of psychosis is seventeen (17) times higher in the witness population as compared to the general population.
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El blanko
anyway, sorry for going off on a personal tangent...I get REALLY worked up and irate when I think about all this stuff. Bottom line, I do not believe JW"s accept mental illness as real - I think they are part of the "snap out of it" mentality. Everything can be fixed by going to the elders, or by attending meetings regularly, or by going out in service. That attitude just makes things so much worse.
I can relate to that friend.
After a book study one week I was talking to 'Sister Looney' (a Jamaican lady in her 50s who saw demons in every cup of tea) about problems I was having at the time with anxiety and she basically told me to 'snap out of it' and certainly do not go to see Satan's psychologists. She was a really kind hearted person on one hand, yet on the other, deeply twisted concerning her world view.
A brother I knew who was having sexual problems, in terms of an inflated sex drive and obsessional masturbation, was told to 'dig the garden'. The problem being, that he expressed how depressed he was becoming as a result of guilt feelings and how he felt trapped. After meeting this brother it became quite clear to me that he had issues in other areas of his life that were never addressed and ought to have been refered to a psychologist or councillor for assistance. Yet these so-called spirit directed brothers could not see the wood for the trees, or in this case, the deep seated neurosis for the masturbation.
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CeriseRose
At one point in my congregation there were 7 people with schizophrenia.
I think JWs (or religion in general) attract those who are mentally ill because they are treated well.
My own experience and after reading the Australian study mentioned (I think I found it shortly after disassociating), I have to say that while it attracts, it also creates or exacerbates existing conditions.
I suffer from depression...have for most of my adult life. While I know that 'depression' is not a mental illness (at least not in the vein of some of the more major ones I've come across), I can state wholeheartedly that my association with JWs aggravated my ability to manage and come through the bouts quickly and uncomplicatedly.
I did seek a counsellor while a JW. While I was not told *not* to go, I was warned about allowing my counselling to interfere with my meeting attendance, with my view on Jehovah being able to solve my problems, and with my being influenced by the counsellor's 'worldly attitude.' I told a few elders I was going, but by and large, didn't tell a lot of people (My initial reason for going was breaking up with my fiance...I knew that I had never dealt properly with loss in my earlier years and that everytime I took another loss it brought up unresolved issues. A couple of years after I started my parents died and I went/am going through a period of grief added to the depression.)
I was strong enough and had the background of NOT being a JW (I wasn't raised as one) to know what I needed to do to take care of myself. How many JWs, raised or not, either have the wherewithal to get themselves help, or have support while doing it? Not many I would think.
I had tried coming off anti-depressants several times over the past few years while a JW. I'd never needed to be on them before, I had always been able to heal and managed through my episodes (of course I'd never gone through anything the magnitude of grieving both parents either). I left the JWs in January and in May went off my medication. I'm still off of it.
I think that the fact that I'm no longer a JW, no longer having my moves dictated by them, no longer feeling beholden to an organization that clearly doesn't have my best interests at heart, is what's made the difference.edit: In re-reading I would like to clarify...depression *is* a mental illness; I was trying to show that in a lot of cases (and in my personal experience) is not always as debilitating as other mental illnesses such as schizophrenia where a person needs to be heavily medicated to function on a basic level (such as holding down a job, managing their personal affairs, etc., if they even *can* do so on medication). Depression is more and more widespread and for the most part, sufferers still maintain a fairly 'normal' life.
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minimus
Rose, I'm happy that you're feeling better since you've left the Witnesses. From what I can see, being a JW is a major reason to suffer from depression.
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Markfromcali
If you label yourself, put yourself in a box, that is something that could be considered a mental problem - JW related or not. Of course a lot of it may not be what we consider pathological conditions, but nevertheless you have limited yourself in some way, put yourself in a mental prison of identity. Certain labels might be a description of a state you find yourself in or a role you play in whatever life situation, but to take it on as who you are is frankly a kind of delusion.
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minimus
Some labels are appropriate.
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Markfromcali
Yes, the point is the label is just a label, you are you. It's just a limited description. Call me Calvin Klein.