Mental Disorders among JW's

by Blackfalcon98 87 Replies latest jw experiences

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  sunny23

  So he blatantly is breaking patient confidence? Give me his name, and I'll have him sued and losing his profession within five monites.

  Calm down bro, not that big a deal in this scenario. I personally abide by HIPAA in my field of work and there are definitely much more serious concerns well above a person talking to their family about pills people they know take. If you got so much fire in you direct it at real information exploiters like the NSA lol. Not that you could realistically have anyone sued in my fathers particular scenario with only his name and wherabouts lol. hearsay, conjecture, lack of examples and evidence, etc.

  Talesin thanks for the articles. Looking back and sometimes still coming in contact with JW's i've known and I get a sense that something is severely off about some of them beyond just a social awkwardness and delusion. I think perhaps that more "exclusive" appocalyptic religions like JW cult tend to attract and keep a higher ratio of "crazies" than say religions like buddhism.
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  Enzo

  Good night from Europe, I agree with blondie, nobody of you has the credentials of being a psychiatrist, and are suggesting and alluding things based on articles you have found on internet, or somewhere else.. It must be noted that a psychiatric disorder it's a worldwide problem, and not only related to Religious people.. these kind of statements are not supported by the psychiatric world..more scientific and accurate research must made worldwide, and statistics must be presented by the psychiatric world, before I will accept these statements...

  Greetings Enzo..
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  shopaholic

  From my experience, the religion seems to attract people with mental issues mainly because of a promise of paradise with no problems where life is perfect. For those raised in the religion I do think they become out of touch with reality and once you have awakened, frankly, everyone seems a little weird. For some that have aged in the religion, it leads to depression due to failed promises. Most of the female witness I know over 30 are on some type of medication for depression and some even share their medication with others blaming it on Satan and this system trying to wear Jehovah's people down.

  I don't know if its higher in the JW organization, but its definitely noticeable.

  The current wave of illness to recycle through the witnesses is fibromyalgia. Not mental but I'm sure it gives them something to talk about between RVs.
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  rebel8

  rebel8, I'd like to see a link to that report. We don't want to be like the WTS with vague references to support material.

  blondie, you have criticized me for this in the past too, when someone posted a question and I gave them an idea on where to find the answer.

  I find this reaction something like:

  Q: "Hey, does anyone know if you can feed maple syrup to hummingbirds safely?"

  A: "I remember reading an article about it, try searching Audobon Society's site." (No statement about what the alleged article says. I've made no assertion about maple syrup, so I have no assertion to support.)

  Response: "You didn't post the article and a link to it--you're like the wts!"

  This is somewhat offensive, to tell you the truth. If you want to do research for others, that's your choice, but everyone should not have to do that or be likened to an evil, lying cult.
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  JW GoneBad

  One thing is for certain; among Jehovah's Witnesses there are many with disorders. Whether many JWs suffer from mental disorders...who knows! But they do have issues.

  How can JWs not have issues!!!

  When you are blackmailed to belong to an organization that has such cruel and troublesome practices as disfellowshipping and shunning, forced obedience, flip flopping of key doctrines, the unscriptural no-blood teaching and the constant feeling of being on a guilt-trip for not putting in a certain amount of hours each month in field service.....how can a JW not have mental issues???

  So back to the question: Do Jehovah's Witnesses suffer from mental disorders? A good percentage most certaintly do!!!
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  Oubliette

  Blondie, So are you a psychologist or psychiatrist qualified to diagnose people without even having a professional appointment with them?

  I have to disagree. A person does not necessarily need to be a psychiatrist or a psychologist to be able to see that people have mental health issues.

  A person would need appropriate education and training to be qualified to DIAGNOSE CAUSES and/or PRESCRIBE TREATMENTS, but not to simply notice the symptoms if they are fairly obvious.

  According to the National Institute of Mental Health, in a 2012 report Any Mental Illness (AMI) Among Adults, "Mental illnesses are common in the United States":

  • "In 2012, there were an estimated 43.7 million adults aged 18 or older in the U.S. with AMI in the past year. This represented 18.6 percent of all U.S. adults."

  

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  18.6 percent! Wow, that's very nearly 1-in-5. That would suggest that the average congregation of 60 - 120 publisher would have between 12 to 24 people with mental health issues.

  It has been suggested that there are at least two reasons why JWs would actually have a higher than average occurance of mental health issues than the general population:

  1. Groups like JWs tend to attract people that already have underlying mental health issues
  2. The high-control, authoritarian nature of the cult can cause otherwise healthy individuals to develop mental health problems which likely never would have occurred had they not been exposed to a "crazy-making" belief system.

  Unfortunately, very little hard-core scientific research has been done to corraborate this oft-observed anecdotal evidence.

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  stuckinarut2

  In my years of observation, there is certainly a high number of Emotionally needy and Emotionally vulnerable people who become witnesses.

  If we ignore the Born-ins, just think about the average person that comes "into the truth" today....

  I challenge anyone to find an accomplished, educated, stable individual amongst the lot....

  Most are in need of something to fill a void in their lives for whatever reason....
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  opusdei1972

  If you take seriously the talks against higher education, against having "worldly" friends or girlfiriends, and if you take seriously the view that Armagedon is inminent, you will be a paranoic fanatic and lunatic man. For instance, Robert King is a lunatic product of the Watchtower theology.
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  opusdei1972

  I remember a good example. I knew a witness of one of my first congregations who was in need of a woman. He was a ministerial servant, but no sister wanted to be his girlfriend. So, one day he told me privily, that he would get a worldly woman as a girlfriend if he had the opportunity. He admitted that he was unhappy. So, I said to him, " that's ok for you, if you need it, I would not say it to the elders, don't worry"......So I noticed that this man became crazy due to his abstinence. ....It is clear that the Society's policy against having a worldly girlfriend is insane.
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  Balaamsass2

  If you created ANY club who for 100 years went door to door and through prisons to recruit members, and accepted ANYONE who as an adult believed in the "Tooth Fairy" and "Santa Claus", would you expect the membership to be 100% mentally stable?