My point is the WT has in recent years offered some enlightening material on this topic, in a very guarded way. But the word hasn't gotten down into the ranks, even among some elders. Euph's defense of the WT overlooks the real issue: Their "advice" is inconsistent and always subject to change, so that interpretation is open to personal opinion. This leads to a wide variety of experience on the part of the poor publishers, whose very lives ebb and flow based on the intellectual quality of their particular body of elders.
This is the crux of the matter. A lot, if not most, congregations still have a lot of the old guard in control. These men, unfortunately, are not always up to date on all matters. These men are usually conservative and come from a generation where, even outside being a JW, seeking professional help was frowned on or made fun of. When a depressed or upset person goes to these older men, they do not get encouragement to seek medical help, they get the same old song and dance about praying, meeting attendance and field service.
What has happened over the generations is that most JWs raised in the religion or having been indoctrinated for many years no longer can think for themselves. When a problem arises, they immediatly look for someone else to answer. Why? Because the WTS has convinced them that they cannot decide or think for themselves. Oh, once and a while an article comes out about using a sound mind, or making good decisions, etc. but the vast majority of counsel from the WTS has been to look to the Bible or to the sheparding ones in the congregation. Think about it, when we were loyal JWS did we not think about how every little thing we did might represent the congregation or the organization? Did we not consider whether viewing a particular movie or buying a particular music album might be wrong somehow or how it might stumble someone else? Everything we did had to be thought of from a congregational or organizational standpoint before we felt comfortable doing it. Now, when a really serious situation develops, like an illness, physical or mental, we think first about the congregation and how what we do might be viewed. Independant thinking has been squashed. More than likely, this mental subversion has contributed to the problem to begin with. When we now go to get help from the older men as directed by "mother" we will probably get bad advice because these untrained men have no idea how to handle any kind of mental medical condition.
If there is a God, these people running this religion have lots to answer for when the judgement day comes.
