I came across a video on YouTube which was an instructional video for Jehovah’s Witness elders (an elder is a bit like a priest or vicar). It is called “Jehovah’s Witnesses – elders training video 1″ and I assume it was secretly leaked by a member of their organisation. Apparently, these videos are for elders’ eyes only…

I will keep this short, but in a nutshell a grieving woman (her husband died a year ago) tells two elders that she is depressed and constantly thinking about “…turning the car on in the garage and going to sleep”. So this is a woman who is not only seriously depressed over the loss of her husband, she is also contemplating suicide and has even considered the method she will use to end her life.

Now, at this point, alarm bells should be ringing. A responsible person would tell this lady to seek medical assistance. This woman needs urgent help – she needs to be referred to a doctor or emergency services as soon as possible. It would also be a good idea to go with her to make sure she gets the help she needs and to ensure she is safe. So what do the elders tell her?

First they lecture her about the perseverance of Job in the Bible. They tell her that he had it much worse and had far more to cope with than she does but he managed to keep his integrity. Job’s ten children were killed, he lost his business and all his possessions, but he got over it, so she needs to get over it! They do not recommend that she seek medical help. Instead they tell her that her emotional trauma is nothing more than ‘wild thoughts’ and even ‘immoral thoughts’ and her grief is ‘an emotional setback’. They instruct her to repeat a mantra throughout the day (I am an integrity keeper, I am an integrity keeper, I am an integrity keeper) and tell her to memorise some Bible verses. She must not grieve or dwell on her loss or show any emotion at all as this will be evidence of her lack of faith in Jehovah. After this clumsy and negligent ‘advice’, the woman thanks them and offers them some cookies which seems to indicate she is completely ‘over it’ as the head elder smiles, looks to the heavens and says “Thank you Jehovah”.

I know these people are actors, but this is a training video to instruct Jehovah’s Witness elders on how to deal with suicidal people. As such, it is a travesty! Elders have no medical training and no experience or expertise in dealing with emotionally depressed and suicidal people. It is extremely irresponsible and dangerous to allow these people to advise those with mental health issues. Inexperienced and inept amateurs should not be dispensing medical advice. I am so angry that I have referred this video to my local MP and have also sent a link to the Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt.

I sincerely hope that no harm will come to any suicidal person because Jehovah’s Witness elders fail to act appropriately and responsibly.