Also illuminating would be a comparison of the data for converted Jehovah's Witness with those for subjects who have derived their faith from their parents. The study does not shed light on the question of symptom or defence mechanism, but suggests that either the Jehovah's Witnesses sect tends to attract an excess of pre-psychotic individuals who may then break down, or else being a Jehovah's Witness is itself a stress which may precipitate a psychosis. Possibly both of these factors may operate together.
Karl Marx once remarked that religion was the opiate of the people. Is it possible that the schizophrenic, with his thoughts in a turmoil and plagued with doubts about his identity and ideas of reference, is able to gain the support of a non-pharmacological tranquillizer from membership of a sect such as the Jehovah's Witnesses? If so, mental health workers and religious leaders should perhaps take a fresh look at the structure and function of these and other related groups.
Thanks, Aussie Oz, for bringing that study to our attention, and for your very personal comments. This is a limited study and the conclusion of the study (above) does question whether the structure and function of the JW attracts schizophrenics as it offers identity and a frame of reference which is described as a "non-pharmacological tranquilizer", rather than being the cause or precipitate of mental breakdown. It would also have been of interest to have seen the admission rates in the same study of other religious movements in order to compare like with like.
My own opinion is that the movement attracts those "plagued with doubts about identity" whether or not this is mental illness. And while such ones remain believers and involved in the movement I think that it can be a real help to finding ones place in the world. The problem which sometimes results in suicide is when self-worth has become dependent on this identity and is then lost by self-doubt or "sin".