Why do so many Jehovah's Witnesses have mental health problems?

Answer 1

A number of studies suggest that the number of Jehovah's Witnesses who have mental problems may be higher than average. In a 1973 study John Spencer found that among Australians the normal rate of mental illness was 0.254% whereas among Jehovah's Witnesses the rate was 0.417%. Other studies were done on conscientious objectors who were Jehovah's Witnesses. None of these studies is scientifically conclusive.

Assuming for the purposes of this discussion that mental illness is higher among JWs, what might be the reason? Spencer's study showed a high incidence of schitzophrenia, a physically based disease independent of environmental factors. One suggestion is that persons already suffering from this disease are attracted to the Jehovah's Witnesses more than other religious movements, but there is no data to support or any rationale to explain this idea.

It has also been suggested that the doctrine of inducing fear of the last judgment, together with the suggestion that only members of the Jehovah's Witnesses will be saved, creates the dual fears that the doctrine may be right and the believer is not good enough, and at the same time that the organization may be totally wrong and will lead to damnation. This "damned if you do and damned if you don't" problem leads to anxiety and thus to anxiety disorders. However many other religious groups (including such huge groups as Roman Catholics and Sunni Muslims) have doctrines which differ, if at all, only in degree. If this explanation were correct, we should expect a higher rate of mental illness in all religions which teach the doctrine of a final judgment in which some go to heaven and some to hell, as opposed to those (like Buddhism) which do not.