ELDERS: COMFORT THE DEPRESSED SOULS – NOT
Sister Hurting was going through some difficult times, both physically and emotionally. She sought professional medical help. One of her prescribed medications was to help her with depression.
She is a good person, strong personality, but hard worker and caring for her family. She has a wonderful sense of humor and a joy to be around. She and her JW husband were personal friends of my wife and I. We enjoyed many good times with them in years past.
One evening, after taking a couple of aspirin, she developed some serious physical complications. It was serious enough to visit the emergency room at the hospital. Upon arriving and examination, the emergency room doctor admitted her for further tests and observation. She was placed in the intensive care unit. Visitations were restricted to her husband or other significant persons, such as her doctor, lawyer, or Minister. [Yes, you guessed it.]
The next day, Elder Q heard about her hospitalization, and drove to the hospital for a visit. Upon entering, he advised the nursing staff that he was Sister Hurting's Minister. They permitted him to see her. Sister Hurting did not want to see Elder Q, but allowed this because he was already in the room.
Elder Q was very concerned for Sister Hurting because she had not been regular at meetings in a few months, and he felt that she had serious problems. He asked her if she had overdosed on drugs. She said no. He asked what drugs she was taking. She said none other than aspirin the night before and her prescription for depression. He asked what drug that was and she told him.
He immediately advised her to demand that her doctor take her off of the drug because it was a "demon" drug. He cited a Society article which ran a full cover story on the drug. (I have not read that article in so long that I have forgotten what it said or how he got that impression.)
Sister Hurting felt that since her doctor prescribed the drug that it must be safe. Elder Q disagreed and told her that she needed to stop using it immediately. Further, he told her that he felt she was secretly abusing drugs, and that was why she was spiritually weak. She said that she was not abusing drugs. She said that she followed the prescription dosage and the only other drug taken was two aspirin. Elder Q said that was not possible and she needed to come clean with this matter.
During this visit, Sister Hurting's doctor arrived for his rounds and stopped by to see her. Elder Q pulled the doctor out into the hallway and advised the doctor that she was abusing drugs and needed to be closely watched. He stated his status as her Minister.
Sister Hurting's doctor talked with her about this and she strongly denied using drugs. She stated that she was only following the prescription dosage. Her doctor, not sure what to make of this, requested a drug screen and took urine and blood samples for examination. The results showed that she had no drugs in her system other than the proper therapeutic levels of her prescription anti-depressant.
During this time Brother Hurting was present and simply watched. He did not stand up for his wife nor did he ask Elder Q to stop the harassment. Why? His wife wanted to know why he just let all this happen. Brother hurting said he felt obligated not to challenge the Elders. He just slunk into the background and would not take a stand.
Eventually, Sister Hurting was released from the hospital. Sometime after this it was determined that she has a rare condition that was causing her to convulse and have serious life-threatening problems. She has since been treated, and seems to be doing fine.
She was crushed over this because Elder Q never showed any concern for her personally, nor did he respect her decision to work with her doctor and receive treatment as she deemed best.
Is Elder Q liable for practicing medicine without a license or guilty of interference with medical treatment? I believe that this is an issue which an attorney and/or medical professional must answer.
My concern here is not so much with Elder Q's interference with her treatment, but his blatant insistence she was abusing drugs, and his lack of providing what the Bible says Elders should do ... comfort the depressed souls.
By the way, Elder Q is known to have excellent health and never sick a day in his life. He feels that depressed people are just making excuses for being weak, lazy, and good for nothing.
[Note: Sister Hurting has since left the Watch Tower religion, and divorced her husband. The last time I talked with her, she has no interest in God or religion anymore. She went back to school and earned a degree, became successfully employed. She still suffers from depression, but is coping much better now. She got the house and custody of her daughter. She is a fighter, and stood up for herself.] – Amazing