HEALTH ISSUES WITH SOCIAL ISOLATION

by Mary 6 Replies latest jw friends

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  Mary

  I thought this article was worth posting, given the fact that Witness children are forced to isolate themselves at school from normal activities such as celebrating Christmas, Easter, Mother's Day Fathers Day, Thanksgiving, Hallowe'en, classmates' birthdays or anything else that's fun and normal.

  After reading this article, I think it goes a long way in explaining why so many Witnesses have problems as adults both mentally, emotionally and healthwise too. Far from being "the happiest people on earth", the Borg's forced isolation of children is causing even more harm than what we would have known about 30 years ago:

  'Loner' Kids May Face Adult Heart Woes

  Fri Aug 11, 7:01 PM ET

  FRIDAY, Aug. 11 (HealthDay News) -- Social isolation in childhood could boost the risk for adult cardiovascular disease, a new study finds.

  A team at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, tracked the health of over 1,000 people from birth until age 26.

  They found that adults who were socially isolated as children were significantly more likely to be unhealthy, as measured by six cardiovascular risk factors including weight, blood pressure, and levels of good (HDL) and bad (LDL) cholesterol.

  This association remained strong even after the researchers factored in other childhood risk factors for cardiovascular disease, such as low IQ, low socioeconomic status, and being overweight. The Wisconsin team added that unhealthy adult behaviors -- smoking, drinking, and lack of exercise -- also could not explain the link between childhood social isolation and increased cardiovascular disease risk in adulthood.

  The researchers noted that social isolation tended to persist throughout life and the longer a person was socially isolated, the worse their health.

  "A useful concept for understanding how repeated social isolation can lead to poor health is allostatic load, which refers to the cumulative wear and tear caused by repeated adaptations to psychosocial stressors (such as social isolation) in childhood, adolescence and adulthood," the study authors explained.

  The findings were published in the August issue of the journal Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
• 

  KW13

  After reading this article, I think it goes a long way in explaining why so many Witnesses have problems as adults both mentally, emotionally and healthwise too. ; Far from being "the happiest people on earth", the Borg's forced isolation of children is causing even more harm than what we would have known about 30 years ago:

  yeh, its quite interesting - i know how hard it was for me to try and fit into the real world, you dont realise how detached from reality the JW's are
• 

  luna2

  I was sort of a loner as a kid, but it had nothing to do with JWs cuz I wasn't one then. I think its just my screwed up personality. Thing about the dubs was that they reinforced that in me. If not for the internet, I'd be completely isolated now. Maybe I'm just anti social.
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  Dansk

  Good post, Mary!

  My wife and I have no doubts that my own illness was brought on by the stress induced by the elders of our congregation. I accepted all their crap for years and continually left it with Jehovah. It's a well known fact that stress weakens one's immune system, which can lead to all kinds of maladies.

  The article is well worth publishing here. I only hope the lurkers take note and save themselves and their children years of unhappiness!

  Ian
• 

  BluesBrother

  They found that adults who were socially isolated as children were significantly more likely to be unhealthy, as measured by six cardiovascular risk factors including weight, blood pressure, and levels of good (HDL) and bad (LDL) cholesterol.

  I wonder if bad habits learned in childhood make it hard to make friends later on, that may lead to depression , overeating for sympathy and poor health due to continued bad habits .

  Lets not forget that some dub kids, if they are lucky, get into a wide circle of other dub kids .. But of course a lot of us did not...
• 

  Mary

  I wonder if bad habits learned in childhood make it hard to make friends later on, that may lead to depression , overeating for sympathy and poor health due to continued bad habits .

  Absolutely it can, BB. It's human nature when you're a child to want to fit in with other kids. No one wants to be seen as "different", as we all know that kids can be very cruel. As an adult, no one cares whether you celebrate Xmas or not, but childhood is a different matter altogether. It definitely caused alot of stress and emotional retardation for me when I was a kid. Having to stand outside the classroom every morning for opening exercises, and not being allowed to participate in the classroom activities depressed the hell out of me and greatly contributed to low self esteem.

  Ian said: My wife and I have no doubts that my own illness was brought on by the stress induced by the elders of our congregation. I accepted all their crap for years and continually left it with Jehovah. It's a well known fact that stress weakens one's immune system, which can lead to all kinds of maladies.

  I believe it Ian. I always thought that my having cancer a few years ago was also caused by stress........well, thank god we both survived it!!
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  Arthur

  When a Witness has all sorts of emotional and physical problems, it is a "sign" that they are targets of Satan, and therefore, have Jehovah's blessing.

  Of course, the organization could NEVER EVER be a contributing factor! Oh, no, not "Jah's theocratic paradise"!