Jehovah's Witnesses and mental illness

by seattleniceguy 35 Replies latest watchtower medical

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  seattleniceguy

  I just read an excellent article on the issue of mental illness and Jehovah's Witnesses by psychologist named Jerry Bergman. The link is:
  http://www.premier1.net/~raines/mental.html

  He presents the results of eight academic studies which show that mental illness is many times higher among Witnesses than in the general population. The results are stunning. One representative example is summarized in the following quote:

  Licensed therapist Montague monitored the admissions to state and private mental hospitals, and local mental health clinics in Ohio from 1972 to 1986.[21] From this data (n=102) he estimated that "The mental illness rate of JW's is approximately 10 to 16 times higher than the rate for the general, nonWitness population [and that]...about 10% of the publishers (full members) in the average congregation are in serious need of professional help...[although they are often] able to hide this fact quite well, especially from outsiders."

  Additionally, there is reason to believe that even these numbers are low. The reasons are as follows:

  • Witnesses have historically been strongly discouraged from seeking psychological help, so only a subset actually see professionals.
  • Witnesses often do not seek treatment because of shame stemming from the fact that the Watchtower Society teaches that doing God's will makes one happy, and therefore if one is not happy, one is lacking in spirituality/devotion.
  • Of those that do seek treatment, many hide the fact that they are Witnesses, for fear of bringing reproach upon the organization.
  • Many people who are raised as Witnesses but leave remain in a largely-JW belief system. Such ones are usually not included in the Witness mental illness statistics.

  I found the article to be well-written and insightful. Just thought I'd share it.

  SNG
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  stillajwexelder

  I have run out of posts but I wil lstart a thread obn this - all about then latest CO talk going around at the moment and it is all about depression - the WT positive spin version
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  Robert K Stock

  The emotional turmoil I suffered as a Witness was terrible. It was only after I left the Watchtower that I realized being a Witness was the source of my problems.

  One Elder told me that one should never see a psychiatrist because the first thing the shrink would say is stop being a Jehovah's Witness and you will feel better.

  Now that I have been out of the Watchtower for 17 years I feel incredibly better. I have never been happier and find real purpose and joy in life.

  .
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  bikerchic

  sng you hit on a gem in Jerry Bergman you can learn more about him here:

  http://www.premier1.net/~raines/hate.html

  Having been a JW himself he knows what he's talking about.
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  bikerchic

  This is interesting from your link sng:

  The Watchtower teaching is clear: Witnesses are to forfeit their life rather than submit to a transfusion, and this includes allowing their children to die. If they do die due to lack of blood, they may sue the surgeon as they did Dr. Denton Cooley-- they lost this case; the jury ruled the blood objection made the operation more risky (Houston Chronicle Nov. 18 1995 p. 42A) Yet even in this area the Watchtower society has changed. Use of all blood products and blood fractions for any purpose was once condemned--even glues made from blood products were not to be purchased. Now Witnesses may accept albumin, globulins, factor VIII, factor IX and even circulating blood. The ban on blood fractions for hemophiliacs was lifted in 1978.[48] Blood serums are now approved because those for viral hepatitis rabies, tetanus, diphtheria and others contain only "a tiny amount" of blood.[49] Because the Watchtower also teaches Witnesses are to be faithful even "in little things," many view these many exceptions as hypocritical. Thousands of children have died of lack of blood, grandparents became blind because of refusing cornea transplants, and others died because of refusing a kidney transplant.[50] This is especially traumatic if the doctrine changes and what was once condemned becomes approved. This is shown in the following case.

  According to Walker "Gary Busselman watched his wife, Delores, die of leukemia. As Jehovah's Witnesses, the couple did not believe in blood transfusions or a bone-marrow transplant.... Today, Busselman thinks the refusal of those medical procedures was wrong and he wants to help others who might have experienced similar tragedies." [51] He added that "she died in 1971 and in 1980 they changed their rule and members since then can get transplants." Guilt and anger commonly result from the belief that a loved one died (Busselman had an extremely good marriage) because of following a doctrine which was later admitted as being wrong by the church.

  That's a story about our own garybuss on JWD! I've only heard part of his story but not this part.
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  Gretchen956

  SNG, I've seen this study before too, very well done and something I have always suspected. More proof of Jehovah's "happy" people, huh?

  Sherry
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  seattleniceguy

  Robert,

  Now that I have been out of the Watchtower for 17 years I feel incredibly better. I have never been happier and find real purpose and joy in life.

  I've been out for a year and a half now. I felt an equilibrium I had never imagined when I first left. The peace of mind that comes from having a totally coherent belief system is indescribable.

  But recently I feel like I've been breaking new ground. I'm sleeping much better. I fall asleep faster and require less of it to feel excellent the next morning. Obviously, it could just be that I am aging and my physiological needs are changing. But I think that perhaps the sleep difficulties I've had all my life were because of the intense cognitive dissonance I felt. It surely must take a great amount of energy to repress that. Now that I don't need to do it anymore, I'm walking on air!

  bikerchic,

  Yeah, I was reading some of his other stuff. It's really interesting. His pieces take a very scholarly approach. The one about the Watchtower's 34 year crusade against aluminum was interesting. They were really hardcore against aluminum up into the 1970s. They had pictures depicting the aluminum industry and the government conspiring to hurt the populace, etc. Sheesh.

  SNG
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  bikerchic

  LOL!

  They were really hardcore against aluminum up into the 1970s. They had pictures depicting the aluminum industry and the government conspiring to hurt the populace, etc. Sheesh.

  Boy that brought back some memories. Seemed every CO's visit even into the 90's there would be a warning about serving or preparing food for the CO and his wife to not use aluminum at all! I never could understand why and was told by some when I questioned it that it was due to an allergic reaction or something.

  I did notice a rather rotund CO one time cutting himself a second piece of pie right out of an aluminum pie dish, you know the frozen pies you bake at home. LOL He was one who insisted on no aluminum too! Go figure.

  I agree it's interesting reading and I've got it bookmarked to read more. Thanks for the link sng!
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  talesin

  bikerchic

  I came across this link with Gary's story a couple of weeks ago when looking up info on transplants ...

  http://www.watchtowerinformationservice.org/busselman.htm

  t
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  Pwned

  The position that the JW's take against seeking psychological help is outrageous. I remember when I was in the even suggested that you were putting yourself at risk for demonic possession if you saw a therapist. I have a sister who has been out for a few years now but has really struggled with the guilt etc. , she doesnt know the truth about the truth. she suffers from depression, bordering on suicidal. my parents are aware and yet they still discourage her to seek proffessional help, they think that all she needs is to come back to the org.