Another JW Suicide

Yes last Thursday a young brother who was in the same hall as me but in the other cong. and he was 29, a newborn baby and a 2or 3 year old and young wife committed suicide.

Was killed here in our town of Newmarket by a train.  How tragic.  I thought to myself not another one.  How many more will kill themselves gratis the WTS?

It just sickens me what a waste of live.  I guess his wife is devasted.  the Memorial for him was yesterday and apparently 600 attended.  They couldn't have it in the Hall. yet the organization is responsible.  What a blow for a so called Christ like organization.   that makes me so angry.

Well the only thing is this if it was on account of the WTS and the   stress it brings to peoples lives, I pray God will never forget him.

Orangefatcat

how tragic....

They couldn't have it in the Hall.

Of course not....I remember in Montreal when a brother killed himself ...The elder told me it had to be held in the funeral home because Jehovah would be disappointed if they used the hall ...

........ Poor wife & family.... He was probably feeling unworthy,,,, I nearly did it when they ousted me..  When will they stop????

So sad. 

-Aude.

I knew a suicide that had a memorial held for him in the hall.

Another painful reminder from the org, a sad story no doubt.

One of the biggest problems is that the men who "shepard" the congregations simply don't take many of these things serious enough. I remember once revealing to an elder that I was severly depressed and he told me to "toughen up" and that "we should be able to get past the things that are just in our head". What great advice. It actually a very sad thing to think about all the JWs out there that need REAL friends, but are outcasts and not looked upon as spiritual enough.

How sad for all those involved

es

I find it so interesting that suicide is so high with JW.   I know I had a problem with suicidal tendencies while a JW.  It has gotten much better since I have left but it is something I still deal with.  Mine is chemical.  But it was definatly fueled by how unhappy I was as a Witness.  Especially when everyone else seemed so happy.   Aparantly they weren't but if they were unhappy as a JW they sure didn't tell anyone.  And those with depression never would say it was because they were unhappy with there lives.  It was always the devils fault.

I know I deal with problems of feeling alone.   It can be overwhelming.   That may have been the apeal of JW's to me in the first place.  The whole one big happy family.  So I am thinking, and here is my question.   Does being a Witness drive you to suicide or because of certain peoples inclinations are they attracted to JW's?  Think about all the half crazy people you knew when you were a JW.   I myself knew one sister tried to kill herself 18 times in two years and was hospitalized 3 times.   Yet she feels safe as a witness.   Crazy among crazies.   I have to admit I didn't have to go far to run into many people dealing with depression. 

But I think another big issue is, that they don't get professional help.   Some would agree to Anti-depressants.   But not therapy.   I got a lot more help from therapy than drug.   Actually the drugs caused more problems.  I even halucanated.  Which was frightening.   Then I really thought I was nuts!  But therapy is not looked favorably because they se it as someone messing with your head.  Demons and all that crap.  But it works!   You learn what triggers your problems and how to avoid them.   This is what keeps me going. 

It anyone needs to talk about this subject I am here.  Or if you have lost someone and don't understand maybe I can shed some light.  Feel free to contact me.

 

As a witness I struggled with depression , suicide attempts and eating disorder. My parents didn't want to get help for me because of the advise from the Society's literature. Psychiatrists apparently can leave you open to demons!!!!

After some time I sought help through my guidance councelor and finally felt strong enough to get help for myself. Finally my parents decided I needed help and booked me into a hospital to begin a program to recover from my eating disorder. 

I agree about the drugs. They did less to help me than the councelling. Through councelling/therapy, I learned self-esteem, how to reason for myself, and healthy coping skills and life skills that will serve me throughout life. The problem is that my parents lost control of my life. To them it looked like the devil took over because I did rebel. I can't say I made very good choices for awhile, but I finally realized that I can choose anything I want provided I understand I am responsible for the consequences.

I believe my suicide attempts were directly related to my life as a witness. My homelife sucked terribly and to top it all off there was a rigid witness life we had to live. There was virtually no creative outlet for us and anything that would foster a healthy self-esteem was deterring us from God's organisation. No wonder many kids grow up into adults hating life and wanting to die. I was one of them.

Moanzy  

I suppose we can blame this on the WT Society, that's a convenient thing to do. Could it be the two things are not related? This fellow could have had a chemical imbalance that NO ONE was aware of, perhaps not he himself. I just think that people need to take responsibility for thier own actions and not try to explain a tragedy as the fault of others when the man clearly made a poor decision based on faulty thinking. Was it WT thinking? How can we know? Should we let our bitterness and righteous indignation at the WT Society blind our reason? Suicide is not encouraged by the WT, as all here have said. Is the WT at fault because he didnt see a psyche? Ok, how do you know he didnt see a psyche? How do you know he didnt try to get help but rejected it? We will never know. The only victim here is his family, he stole from them the thing they needed most from him, his presence in thier lives. It was sad, but selfish. He was in some sort of pain and I'm sure it wasnt because he didn't get enough hours. It goes way the hell deeper than that. Of course its a tragedy, just dont blame the people he knows for his actions. (Sounds kinda narrow to do so.)

W.Once

We may need to set up a suicide prevention system for jws.Ideas?????

i also had many problems with suicidal tendancies. the worst blow was when my sister started seeing this worldly guy and went through a rough time deciding what to do about it. she told me later that she had some suicidal thoughts because of all the guilt she had from it and not being able to be happy with someone and be a J-dub at the same time. that got me mad enough to realize how unhealthy the jw's realy are... aoxo

They do have a prevetion against sucide. You attempt suicide, you get disfellowshipped.

because Jehovah would be disappointed if they used the hall ...

The "HALL" has taken on more importance then the people or anything else on earth. It's ok to have a funeral anywhere ELSE under god just not in the hall.

Wheres the google ads on this thread. Thought you'd be able to get suicide at kelkoo or ebay.

   sorry - just thought I would lighten such a harsh subject.

Wasanelder Once,

 I know that it is not healthy to blame others including the organisation for suicide. I do believe that they must take some responsibility for the unhealthy attitudes toward seeking professional help like psychiatrists.

Just before I da'd this last time, I was getting councelling for depression. The elders came to visit me because they were concerned that I may be getting unhealthy advice from my councelor. They told me that I should be careful and that the society doesn't recommend this type of thing unless it is really necessary. On top of that they told me " You need to be careful what you say so as not to put Jehovah's Witnesses in a bad light".

I felt GUILTY for making a healthy choice! With my long history of depression, I wonder if they classified my case as minor and were waiting for me to actually commit suicide before it would have been acceptable for me to get help.

Why is it that after the fact, when it's really too late, the society recognizes that some need this help? Why is it that my family (I know mine isn't the only one) were not happy to seek professional help for me when I clearly needed it?

This is why I do believe the society should shoulder much responsibility for the mental state of people in the congregations. The ones that have a chemical balance or an inheritance factor is not their fault, but if they are discouraging these ones from getting the professional help they need then YES they are responsible for the end result. The ones like myself that don't have a chemical imbalance or an inheritance factor that could easily have been helped with some councelling, but because of the societys dislike for psychiatrists couldn't get the help needed, again YES the society is responsible for the end result.

I don't hold the society responsible for me anymore because I finally took on responsibility for my own life and health. The result from that choice is that I lost my WHOLE family. I do hold the society responsible for that part though.

Moanzy  

This is another sad story, I understand he fell in front of a passing train, but the JWs will object by saying, how do we know that his suicide was caused by the WTS and that there are people commiting suicide in all societies.



Was he disfellowshipped or otherwise intensely psychologically pressured by the JWs?

Work of WT org is really evil.

I had depression problems when I was active JW, but 98% of my depression problems disappeared after I didn't go to kingdom hall anymore. Last 2% are for army and my parents who are not happy about my decisions. But still, I'm happier than ever before and it is because I don't have to pretend to believe to Society's CRAP.

When I was really depressed, I thought lot about suicide and sometimes I was even close to attend but I had luck and nothing happened to me... others are not so lucky :(

 so sorry. 

So sad for his family.  So sad that he didn't find the help he needed in the one place he was told to put all his trust.

Living in an unnatural high pressure environment, and all cultic organisations put their members in such environments, can create serious psychological problems in the more vulnerable people there.