I had withheld writing about this because I thought it was obvious what our unchanging stand has been on this subject, but some have been negatively affected by false and misleading claims so much that it is listed among the major claims against us by sociologists. (Perhaps, as psychologists, they take the accusation personally.) Disgruntled former members claim that Jehovah's Witnesses used to prohibit consulting a psychiatrist. This claim originated with a former member, a psychiatrist who used to treat Jehovah's Witnesses. After leaving the way, he claimed that we had a higher number of those with mental disorders than the general populace. (I addressed this claim in another post .) Obviously the claim was bogus. Being a JW at the time while treating JW's, of course he had a larger number of JW clients than non-JW clients because they trusted him to do their treatment over anyone from the world. (A trust which he ultimately betrayed.) Thus he got taken by data bias. He c...

Updated Monday, April 25, 2022 at 10:02 PM. If you are leaving something you have known for a long time, the effect on your psyche can be profound. You do not need to have been "brainwashed" or "mind controlled" for it to affect you severely. That is why people who leave loved ones or move to a new city or change long time careers, or get divorced, often need counseling, someone to talk to, to deal with the change. This is normal. A simple part of life. Humans don't like big changes, and a change or abandonment of religious belief is certainly difficult. Religion is a large commitment, an investment of time, energy, thought, money and emotion. When you leave all that behind without something to replace it, it can seem like it was all wasted and you can suddenly feel taxed. For those joining a religion, on the other hand, it is easier because they believe they are trading up and they find joy in doing so. They don't view the past as a waste of time, but as ...

Do Jehovah's Witnesses have a higher rate of mental illness among their members or those who leave the organization as some claim? There is no published, peer-reviewed information conclusively demonstrating a higher rate of mental disorders or distress among Jehovah's Witnesses. Though there have been articles purporting to be "studies" that claim a high rate of mental disorders among Jehovah's Witnesses, but with no independent support. In one article I found on the subject*, they gave no conclusive evidence and tried to make the positive statements made by one of only three studies it quotes look like negative statements where the study concluded that there was no reason to restrict Jehovah's Witness parents from raising children and espousing their beliefs to them. In fact, the study cited really wasn't about the prevalence of mental illness among Jehovah's Witnesses at all, but about whether Jehovah's Witnesses were fit parents. The second ...