Ken, i got a phone call this morning with the news. I am so sorry for you and Bonnzo. This is sure to bring back the horror of his sister last year. He was dating a dear friend of mine, and i really thought they were going to get married. My stomach is sick over this......take care......oompa
More Bad News
by Decided 32 Replies latest jw friends
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ziddina
My deepest condolences to you, your family, and your (2nd) cousin's family...
About depression and suicide amongst the Jehovah's Witnesses - I agree with Billy the X, JustWantTruth, and others - My father (who remains a JW to this day) has been so deeply depressed while a member of the Jehovah's Witnesses that he has had to be hospitalized and treated with electro-shock therapy - three times during the time I was still in contact with the family.
My brother (also a staunch Witness) has also been so deeply depressed that he was hospitalized and put on suicide watch - especially after he accidentally ran over a drunk lying in the road and killed him...
My mother hasn't displayed any strong indicators of clinical depression but has been addicted to uppers and downers (as diet pills and relaxants) all during her adult life - again, all the time she's been a good, practicing Jehovah's Witness.
I personally experienced such deep depression during my time as a Jehovah's Witness that I reached the point of considering suicide - that's when I knew I had to get out. Since I have left, I have not experienced severe depression again - ever!!
I ran an informal survey amongst the ex-Jehovah's Witnesses' support group I'm a member of, and everysingleoneofushadeitherconsideredsuicideorhadattempteditwhilestillabelievingmemberofthereligion!!!
Getting accurate figures of suicide amongst Jehovah's Witnesses is impossiblebecause of the paranoid secrecy shrouding the Watchtower Society.
Which, in itself, constitutes a public hazard, in my opinion... Zid
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steve2
Getting accurate figures of suicide amongst Jehovah's Witnesses is impossiblebecause of the paranoid secrecy shrouding the Watchtower Society.
Please don't muck-rack. It is possible to hear about witnesses who have committed suicide, but whether the family wants it publically known is quite another issue. To the best of my knowledge, when suicides have occurred, there has been no attempt by elders to stifle the information.
As an earlier poster said, depression and suicidal-thinking are widespread, and rates of suicide vary widely from country to country. Most of the information we have about suicide rates is based on figures obtained from developed countries. Among developed countries, the Scandanavian cluster are among the highest. In contrast, countries such as India have extremely high suicide rates - only we don't hear about it so much.
Caution is needed when people speculate about rates of mental illness and/or suicide in one group compared to others. What we do know is that religion is not necessarily a protective factor, whether the religion is a more mainstream one or a "marginalised" one. I work in a hospital-based mental health service and let me reassure those eager to bad-mouth JWs that we see people from all religious persuasions suffering from depression and suicidal behavior.