I think that only you know whats best for you. If you want to write a letter I think you should. It helps to get stuff out on paper and provides a sense of closure. But do you have to send the letter? My only concern is that when you send the letter your friends and family will be under a lot of pressure to treat you differently.

This may be a silly idea but I do think you could completely confuse them and run with the whole "Depression" diagnosis. Tell your parents you are hoping to return to meetings and out in field service "as soon as the medication starts working" or that you want to wait until "the medication starts working like your doctor said it would in a few weeks" before talking about spirtual weakness or meeting with the eldesr. The Society has changed their policy on whether or not its ok to take Psychiatric Medication.

After a few weeks or when they bring it up or pressure you again for an answer, you can sadly say your meds are still not working and that either your doctor has upped the dose or switched you to a new brand. Assure them that you love Jehovah and you wish you could serve him better but you have to take care of your health first in order to be able to pioneer or something. You can continually do this without getting them suspicious for months and months and years and years, as it is quite common for people to be chronically depressed and for their meds not to work.

I dunno, its just an idea to help you save a sort of relationship with your parents and friends. Then not going to the meetings is really not your fault, you are waaay too sick. LOL. Let me know what you think of this outrageous plan (im just brainstorming) and the best of luck with your brand new freedom and life and your big move.

P.S. I do know someone who is actually trying this and seems to be working so far. This person is actually very depressed and is actually on meds. But it is very easy to get a diagnosis of depression from your doctor( just go tell him you think you are depressed. Tell him about the JW org and what you are about to experience in terms of loss of friends family and life as you know it. He will no doubt agree) The person who is trying this has a status of  'spiritually weak,' thats it. They occasionally call in and listen to the meeting by phone, and then put the phone down and go watch tv in another room. LMFAO!

Last Edited By: CookiePants Feb 3 10 12:13 PM. Edited 2 times.