End of 1991, in Switzerland was performed as part of a Kingdom service school, organized by local Branch Office of the Watchtower Society on behalf of the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses and for elders held in the meetings, by the head of the former branch committee including a lecture about depression and the kind of treatment by the elders. (In Germany were at that time in the appropriate training other topics).
While previously always has been norm a certain skepticism, if not distrust, against psychotherapists, suddenly one heard new sounds. It was admitted that among Jehovah's Witnesses were many people suffering from depression; it was known that in psychosomatic clinics patients are located permanently who commit themselves to Jehovah's Witnesses. They gave the reason that the religion of the witnesses attracts especially people who already suffer from depression.
This may be; but it is only a part of reality. Because you should assume that love and security at the beginning and above all the alleged spiritual paradise, at least don't state any worsening of depressive. However, this is the case; when the love and security are replaced after the baptism by the demands of religion or at least pushed aside, the depression increases again, and there are also many depressed people who were never before. In that regard, this spiritual paradise is a very serious matter - if it is only not seen as a placebo, as a consolation for in their expectations disappointed minds.
It was told the elders that they, if a depression would last longer than 5 days in someone, should suggest strongly that person to go to a doctor or therapist. Elders as they themselves were no professionals, had no expertise, and should therefore refrain entirely from medical or other treatment advices. This - reasonable - council was justified very elaborately and was - as usual in all lectures, even if the opposite would have been said - acclaimed with applause. In writing, I have not seen this lecture in any publication. It was an instruction to elders.
In the meantime 17 years have passed and we have long moved away from the objective and reasoned view of 1991. When I spoke last week with an elder about the issue, he told me , that the new instructions because of bad experiences (leaving the organization) would appear quite differently. In any case, you should not encourage or invite to visit doctors and therapists, even if their use is not prohibited.
The reasons: They found that those men would very frequently refer to the religion as a cause for the depression. When I objected that there would be also believing doctors and therapists who counsel their patients on a Christian foundation, this possibility was rejected on the reason that they also were seeing in the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses the reason for the increased depressions. In fact, also cases are known, where people lost their depression after separation from the Jehovah's Witnesses or were cured.
I asked, what should be done now by the elders in the case of depression, because their incompetence was indeed still existing. The answer was that they were directed (or it was recommended), to point the patients to issues about depression in the magazine "Awake", where would be given good advice. But as the writers of these articles can not be experts, but receive their articles from other side or assemble them from other sources, this is a peculiar method of treatment.
A kind of self-therapy, a kind of self-treatment by sick people. The results - or non-results - one can imagine. But this shows again that the Governing Body regards as more important its authority over persons than the proper treatment for their recovery, and that it is not ready to search the causal sources for depressions in their own organization and in its on people imposed burdens.
The recipe "more studies, more meeting visit, more preaching" - in reality the increasing of the burden - is also here recommended as a panacea. But, as known, a recipe that will be good for everything, heals usually nothing, it only worsens. No wonder, that a county supervisor said on the occasion of his visit, but the witnesses had to be the happiest man; instead, they all had gray, joyless faces. Yes, there are very many depressed people, many who do not even want to admit that they suffer from depression, because of the new attitude of the organization. (How elegant you can put all this into the term vegetative dystonia). But the reality is: a lot more whining than pleasure, many morose, sorrowful, plaintive, murmurers, thankless, joyless, no spiritual Christians, but norm Christians, laws Christians, who observe and criticize each other. But that does not disturb the great minds in Brooklyn. If the facts do not conform to their theories, so much the worse for the facts!