Abuse & Mental Disorders in Jehovah's Witnesses (DSM IV)

The Mental Abuse of Jehovah’s Witnesses and Former Members

There is not a shadow of a doubt that millions are being psychologically abused at the hand of, and under the guidance of Jehovah’s Witness Watchtower Society. We cover the proof in the statement, as evidenced by scholarly research by mental health professionals who are educated in cultic abuse and it’s components. Those who have faced emotional or psychological abuse by cults are victims who largely require treatment, whether or not they leave the Jehovah’s Witness cult.

Child Abuse in Jehovah’s Witnesses – Mental

As determined by mental health professionals’ guidelines, the DSM-V manual provides classic signs and symptoms of mental health illnesses, abuses, and varying differences between common disorders. There are varying codes under which treatment providers must treat the a) abusers and b) victims (995.5 and 995.81 respectively).

The following classic symptoms and actions are noted in the manual, Value Options Provider’s Handbook, used by mental health professionals:

Child abuse and neglect may include but are not limited to the following:

Consistent and or frequent conflict between parent and child
Parental incompetence
Lack of parental control in the home
Poor parent/child communication
Inappropriate use of discipline or heavy discipline or punishment
Unrealistic expectations of child behavior (severing friendships with “outsiders” or “worldly” children)
Parent overprotective of child
Isolation of child (from other children who don’t share the same religious beliefs)
Reports of physical or sexual abuse by the parent (including hitting slapping, extreme punishment, etc)
Verbal and emotional abuse including withdrawal of affection and humiliation (if the child “sins” or is “unrepentant of sins” or “making Jehovah upset”)
Failure to provide a nurturing and safe living environment (or threats of same)

Failure to provide a nurturing environment can include severe punishment of a child’s actions, which are viewed as “sins”. The adult may punish the child using guilt tactics if the child isn’t “obeying Jehovah”. The parent may also choose to let the cult elders reprimand the child, removing themselves from having parental control. This can lead to the child having no parental authority, but rather having to live under the authority of the organization. This can cause confusion in the child, as to who is really the figure they must show obedience to as “role models” who can protect them. This is known as Paternal transference.

Adult Abuse

Consistent or frequent conflicts between adults
Efforts to maintain control over another adult
Inappropriate use of adult discipline
Inability to establish boundaries
Overprotective of another adult
Isolation of an adult
Emotional and verbal abuse including withdrawal of affection and humiliation
Caregiver neglect including failure to provide necessary skilled nursing assistance, nutrition, access to support for activities of daily living
Censoring of mail or phone calls
Censoring of an elder’s financial assets through coercion or manipulation

Reference: American Psychiatric Association, May 1994

Value Assets Provider Handbook: V-Codes, Abuse (www.valueoptions.com)

Jehovah’s Witness children and adults are undoubtedly emotionally abused, and are taught to mentally abuse while in the Watchtower organization.

Inadvertant Abuse and Control by Watchtower over Victims

Threats of shunning if one leaves the religion
Threats of abandonment by family
Threats of death by Armageddon
The awareness that one will lose their family if they leave
Actual shunning of, abandonment of, and cutting off of all love/contact of former members.

The video below offers significant proof that Jehovah’s Witnesses are abused through manipulation talks given at meetings and large assemblies. Threats loom over the heads of children and teens, causing anxiety, depression, phobias, and massive fears of abandonment, which may provoke and even directly cause mental disorders in adolescence and adulthood.

Common disorders amongst Jehovah’s Witnesses and former Jehovah’s Witnesses include:

Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Specific phobia
Borderline Personality Disorder
Panic Disorder
Major Depressive Disorder
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

In 1994, the DSM-IV introduced religious and spiritual problems as important areas needing to be covered by mental health professionals. Among the topics discussed are loss of faith and change of religious affiliation, membership, practices and beliefs. However, many mental health professionals placed focus on the specifics involved in treatments of former religious cult members.

Researchers also conducted studies on common psychiatric disorders of criminals, such as murderers inside cults. The results found:

Paranoid schizophrenia
Dependent personality disorder
Shared paranoia
Shared psychotic disorder
Mixed personality disorder with features of narcissism
Paranoia
Antisocial traits
Delusional disorder with grandiose and persecutory themes
Psychotic disorder, not otherwise specified
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Bipolar Disorder

In studying cults which ended in catastrophe, the largest importance seems to be placed on the cult leaders. However, the victims many times seem to go with significantly less focus and attention.

Potential Psychiatric Disorders Among 7 Watchtower Leaders

The members of Watchtower Bible and Tract Society Governing Body include, as of 2016:

Samuel Herd
Geoffrey Jackson
Stephen Lett
Gerrit Lösch
Anthony Morris III
Mark Sanderson
David Splane

Psychiatric disorders of the above mentioned men may include:

Antisocial Personality Disorder
Narcissistic Personality Disorder
Psychopaths

No one truly knows the personal lives or history of the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses. No psychological assessments are offered on their mental abilities in leading millions of members. Nothing is known as to their personal mental health or illnesses. Traits may be studied through talks they give, mannerisms, and personal encounters of those who know and have had experiences with them.

Millions profess “love” of these 7 men who do not disclose personal aspects of their lives to faithful followers. In fact, those who claim to know and follow the Governing Body members have never met them, yet they blindly follow any and all instruction given by the cult leaders.

For further research on cultic psychiatric disorders and their leaders: International Cultic Studies Association, John Burke, PhD

A former F.B.I. agent also states:

“Studies of individuals who exhibited psychopathic traits, such as the cult leader Jim Jones, reveal persons who apparently lack the ability to experience genuine empathy for others. Also, these individuals seem not to be able to use emotional feedback from others to alter their life course. However, what makes such psychopaths dangerous to society is that even though they apparently possesses a defective empathy, they are still able to intellectually analyze the emotional makeup of other people, and then turn that understanding to a criminal advantage.”

-Joe Navarro, MA, Former F.B.I. Counterintelligence

Destruction of the Mind of Cult Members

In a 1982 article in the New York Times, a prominent mental health expert states:

”Keeping devotees constantly fatigued, deprived of sensory input and suffering protein deprivation, working extremely long hours in street solicitation or in cult-owned businesses, engaging in monotonous chanting and rhythmical singing, may induce psychophysiological changes in the brain. The rhythmical movement of the body can lead to altered states of consciousness, and changes in the pressure or vibration pattern of the brain may affect the temporal lobe.” – Stanley H. Cath, Psychoanalyst and Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Tufts University School of Medicine (1982)

Watch the video below and pay close attention to the mind control techniques used by a religious cult speaker in the Jehovah’s Witnesses, during a large convention of brainwashed members. (2016)

Take note of :

Manipulation tactics which associate leaving the cult with leaving God.
Encouraging abandonment (abuse)
Instilling of fear of abandonment in children and teens through use of dramatic media
Distortion of biblical passages

Also take note that the speaker leaves out the following critical reasons why hundreds of thousands leave the cult:

Uncovering the scandalous history of the cult
Finding serious errors in literature written by Watchtower
False doctrinal teachings
Identifying unbiblical treatment of victims
Profound realization that the member is in a cult
False accusations of wrongdoing
Furthering biblical studies using outside resources
Abuse within the cult (mental, sexual molestation, abusers allowed to stay in the congregation)
and more.

An upcoming article will detail more reasons people leave the cult of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

*If you are a professional in the mental health industry, and wish to be cited in an upcoming article on cultic or religious abuses, and wish to offer your counseling services to our readers, please contact us as DoctrinesofFaith@gmail.com and place “I want to help” in the subject line.