Do teenage JW's have a higher suicide rate?

by thomas3004 23 Replies latest watchtower medical

• 

  gumby

  The answer is probably yes......if the youth had trouble in the religion, ......especially judicially.....then was shunned by family. Witnesses that are well adjusted and stay out of trouble can be as happy as many others. There are NO STATISTICS. The Watchtower certainly supplies none and there is no way of really knowing any figures. I believe Jerry Bergman in his book...'.JW's and mental health', made the quote that suicide rate amoung dubs was 10 times higher. How he knew this I don't know.

  JW youths are definately under more stress than most kids. No sports, college (maybe), no worldly association, field service, meetings etc. It's tough to be a grown up witness.....let alone a youth.

  Gumby
• 

  LoverOfTruth

  Suicide is high for teenagers in general. I believe it's the second cause of death with accidents being the first for teens.

  I don't know of any witness teenagers who took their own lives but I am aware of few adult JWs who did.
• 

  zigthink

  A young guy in the congregation next to mine took his own life. He used to be an exemplary pioneer type, then he stopped going to meetings, I think he got himself into some financial difficulty and a while later he was dead. Shot himself with a shotgun in the chest. I imagine the suicide rate is higher than average among young dubs. After all, theres a lot of repressed stuff and guilt in their lives. So it would be a surprise if the rate wasnt higher i think.
• 

  shamus

  I have a friend who was struggling with suicidal thoughts a few months ago and now her new boyfriend is trying to convert her to be a JW. So I am a little concerned to say the least.

  First off, welcome to the forum!

  I would like you to take my words very seriously here. I am not a mole, an idiot, or anything like that. I am a real person who has suffered from suicidal thoughts and depression for ages. I do not blame the witnesses for that one little bit. Not one. If you want to see back-up for what I am going to say, click on my name, go to topic history, and go to page one and check out my first post here. It isn't pretty.

  Enough said about me.

  My answer to my depression was Jehovahs Witnesses. What did they teach me? And what did I fully indoctrinate myself in to make myself "better"? God would make me better, no?

  I was made to feel weak. I was told in Watchtower studies and Awake! articles that depression is clinical but that putting your trust in doctors or therapists was wrong wrong wrong. My depression worsened considerably. I was treated as an outcast in the "loving" congregation. I was treated as weak and a loser; someone who was not worthy of assosiation, despite my field service hours being "average", auxillary pioneering many many times, and not missing too many meetings. I was continually criticized for not going to assemblies because I just could not handle the crowds. It made my physically ill to go there.

  So what am I trying to say here?

  As someone who looked to a god called "Jehovah" for help, his organization leaves much to be desired. In fact, if it weren't for leaving the witnesses, I would have died. There is no doubt whatsoever in my mind of that. Your friend is well advised to stay well away from "Jehovah's Witnesses". Far far away. They're mind control, conditional love towards children, and sick beliefs that I fully endorsed and taught whilst one is not the way that any god in the bible would have you believe. Witnesses are very narrow minded. They only accept things from the headquarters as truth; they teach that Jehovah teaches them directly. Unfortunatley, it is run like a democracy.

  Unfortunately this "air" person chose to hijack this thread. That's a normal witness thing to do; deny everything without one bit of research except for what the WTBTS says. One only needs to read a good book on cults to see the real truth of Jehovahs Witnesses and draw direct comparisons with them and a full-blown cult. Some call them a "high-control group". This is the best description out of all the experts. Unfortunately, "air" is in the cult and has his/her eyes closed at this point. In fact, by even coming to this website and posting here, this person risks complete disassosiation from all friends and congregation members. Sound like control to you? It should.

  Tell your friend to get medical help. Don't find religion in place of happiness. Clinical depression is not cured by a belief system. It is cured by changing the chemical imbalance in your friends brain.

  If only I had gone to a doctor years ago. I wouldn't even be an ex-dub.
• 

  ohiocowboy

  There is a very good site pertaining to this. The address is www.equip.org/free/dj601.htm

  Hope this helps, a lot of things it says about this topic seems to hit the nail on the head!
• 

  LyinEyes

  I agree with those who said the suicide rate is high in teens this day and age in general. It is a confusing time in history,,,,,,,,because so many people don't know where they stand on certain issues,,,,,as in moralitity, laws, religion, etc. It is the dawning of a new age,,,,,,,,,I guess I would compare it to my mothers teen years,,,,,,,,in the early to mid 60's before I was born.

  Alot of our kids today are taught the same things,,,,,,,,be free , live your life and they sometimes just dont know where to go. Some go to religious cults , some to drugs , some to violence , some to rage .

  Some just make it thru and live to tell about it. But I think because we are at such a turning point in what is morally acceptable and not.........the teens are having to face things that I know I didnt have to face when I was a teen. My lines were clearly draw being raised a JW , and yeah I had thoughts of wishing I want alive, even thinking of ways to end my life , than to go another day , miserable, as I watched my friends, get more and more freedom, and I lost more and more freedom the older I got.

  I do think there is a high rate of suicide in those who are sensitive souls, those that want to please so badly, those that have been abuse in the past even prior to JW and even as they were JW's. Being one of JW's can make you feel so much guilt because you never feel good enough. You are never allowed to think of yourself when you really need to. You are to wait on Jehovah for all of your problems.......put them in the back of you mind and move on and forward. When you find yourself falling behind,,,,,,,and the elders and others tell you how much you are slacking,,,,,,,you can feel so unworthy so overwelmed that you just give up.

  As others have said this is not limited to JW teens. My mother was 35,,,,,,,,the girl who was born in 1950 and was a free spirt , flower child wannabe, before she hooked up with the JW's when I was a baby and she was only 17. Forever , after her life was never to be the same. She was never to be that free thinker , free spirit she was meant to be, and she lost herself , by the young age of 35 by her own hands.

  I can not express enough on this forum how dangerous I think any religion , any group. any club or whatever, that takes away who you really are and trys to make you fit a certain mold..........how very dangerous that is......... It is a matter of life and death for many.

  Keep an eye on your friend..........the JW's as well as many other cults will use a person's tragedy,,,,,,,a death in the family, family prombles, guilt , etc. to use as a tool to get someone to believe their ways. I honestly dont think most JW's are evil and try to do this in an evil way....knowing what they are really doing,,,,,,,because many JW's really do try to care for others and help them.

  But the outcomes is the same........the brainwashed , brainwash others. The blind leading the blind,,,,,so to speak.
• 

  obiwan

  do you know what?i was disgusted when i read what u had written!As a Jehovahs Witness i think i know, we are NOT i repeat NOT a cult!a cult has 2 have one spersific worldly leader..like in achurch with the priest or even the POPE!!!!! we base all our belifes firmly on the bible and Jesus Christ is the head of our congrigations and Jehovah God is the one we worship! i can not belive that people say these things!Yes our religion is striced but ,i as a 16 year old boy, can say that we do not miss out!Oh yaeh we do.....on aids and all other S.T.D.`s we miss out and drugs and becoming heroin adicts, we miss out on un-wanted pregnacies, we miss out on having to have our stomach pumped every saturday night because we ve been out and drank to much!YES we miss out on alot! I am a teenager and my father died about 7 or 8 moths ago anh ye it was a hard time!but i never NEVER felt suicidel if any thing i was drawn closer to God!I have many many happy friends in this organisation none of which have EVER felt like this!i LOVE being a Jehovahs Witness! If any thing by you all saying things like this you just prove that we are the true religion!I my apologies because i can not rememebr exactly where but in the bible it tells us that satan has blinden the minds of the unbelivers so all i can say is thanks! We do have all our things correct and i am affraid that it is you who are sadly mistaken! find something better to do instead of discusing our fantastic holy divinly inspired RELIGION all day long!

  IP: B7MThGNpa84An05q

  BLAH, BLAH, BLAH!!!!

  Shouldn't you be on a street corner passing out Culttower's!?!

  By the way, don't forget to count this on your time slip, you've certainly shown us what our evil ways will get us.........freedom!!!!
• 

  dagg

  i can only speak from experience, i was one of those at risk type kids growing up. suffered from clinical depression (which is basicly resolved now) and oddly enough it was not untill AFTER i left that the suicidal thoughts came into mind (and were totally unrelated to religion or the strictness thereof). i know of NONE who off'd themselves when i was growing up that were practicing or non practicing members, and the only 2 people that i know who actually did off themselves were drug addicts. take from that what you will. dig long enough for something and eventually you will find information that can be used to support your stand and keep looking at the information long enough and you can find a way to make the same information support the other side.
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  BrendaCloutier

  Please, please, please! Anytime anyone suggest suicide as an option, especially if they have a plan in place and are contemplating using it, GET THEM HELP no matter what.

  They will be hesitant, and they might get very angry. So what are emotions anyway when someones live is on the line? If you feel incompetent about getting them to seek help, call a suicide hotline, the local teen support center, or your local hospital for assistance.

  And don't forget to tell them you love them and they are important to you.

  Don't hesitate. Just do it.

  If they did choose to leave this world, think of how you and everyone who loves that person would feel.
• 

  BrendaCloutier

  I'm sorry you're stuck in your belief structure. It is so limiting, and mostly a lie. I pray for Jehovah's (Allah's, Jesus's, Great Spirit, Universe, Blessed Goddess) blessings on you, and for your true enlightenment.

  Hugs and love

  Brenda