Psychological turbulence upon leaving the WTS

greendawn

Most people that have expressed themselves on this issue say that the WTS has in effect created some serious psychological problems for them that have far reaching effects and are hard to shake off, as if they were given some kind of potent poison to drink. That reminds me of Babylon the great and her destructive wine cup of anger that she makes the world drink. But what is it precisely that causes this psychological morbidity and what precisely is it? Why is it so strangely persistent for many individuals, why is it so potent? Could it be some superhuman demonic power causing it that is affiliated with the WTS as if casting an evil magical spell and how can it be shaken off? In my view it is their whole network of ideas that spiderweb of deception that must be torn apart, eg armageddon is not near and will not happen in the way the JWs claim, the FDS never was chosen by God, a genuine religious organisation has yet to appear, Christians can be part of the world without compromising their faith.

OnTheWayOut

But what is it precisely that causes this psychological morbidity and what precisely is it?
Why is it so strangely persistent for many individuals, why is it so potent? Could it be some
superhuman demonic power causing it that is affiliated with the WTS as if casting an evil
magical spell and how can it be shaken off?

It is not so mysterious. Most people who leave a mind-controlling cult need to be
deprogrammed or at least receive exit counseling to see how they have been affected,
and what to do about it. Most of us have had no counseling or deprogramming, so
we suffer psychological problems.

We were told that we would be destroyed if:
we took blood, associated with the world, went to a church, voted, left the organization,
etc. etc. etc.

We were convinced that only the spiritually weak were disobedient to the organization.
We have either lost friends and family or think that we might lose them, eventually.
We have been told that we have been drawn to Satan.

You can add more things that we were told, there are plenty.
For many, this has had it's toll. Some of our thinking is warped and we want to unwarp
it. For some, it is difficult to know if it is truly okay to have sex before marriage or if it
okay to vote for the next president. Will they be destroyed if they enter a church?
What if they need blood?

What can a counselor do for us? Can't we just let other ex-JW's help? How can I get
my friends and family out? Serious problems that the average Catholic or Hindu do
not face. Is it an evil spell from the WTS?- You bet it is. Is it demonic?- No.

juni

Hi Greendawn. How have you been?

I inherited the leaning towards depression from my mom.

What triggered a deep depression was leaving the organization and experiencing a lot of the reasons that were mentioned by WayOut.

I felt so duped and there was a huge hole that I felt I was in and didn't know how to get out of it. Got counseling for many years and am on meds.

juni

Gill

I have been battling this problem now for nearly four years.

I still see a counsellor who says that the cult control damages a childs psyche, their internal self. It's a permanent scar, like a scratch on a record. She is discussing with psychiatrists whether hypnotism might help me or not. All I know, is something is wrong. I'm not mentally ill as such, just mentally damaged. Maybe the scratch can't be rubbed out of this record. But apparantly this happens to people who are brought up in cults, such as myself.....BUT interestingly NOT ALL people who are brought up in cults. Some, like my husband NEVER believed any of the BS. I wish I had been like him.

OnTheWayOut

Not my particular problem, but it is for my wife and many others- They grew up in the JW's.

For these people, they never developed a normal set of beliefs and standards. All the best
cult exit counseling suggests that you help the person see his Pre-cult self and his current
self, then his post-cult self. GaryBuss wrote an article for freeminds.org called
"Establishing and maintaining the Pseudopersonality." He says that there is no pre-cult
self for those children. Read the article if that's a problem for anyone reading here. Gary
says it pretty good- just search for GARY at the freeminds.org search engine.

fullofdoubtnow

I really feel for people who were brought up from birth in the wts, then leave having known nothing else apart from the weekly grind of meetings and field service, plus all the other things that go with being a jw.

I had a pre wts life, until I was 21, and my post wts life has been for just over a year. When I saw through it all, it was the feeling of being so easily fooled that hurt me the most initially, coupled with the disappointment that all the things I thought I had been working towards, life in paradise forever etc, weren't going to happen after all. The guilty feelings came later, as I did things I knew I would never have done as a jw, and I still have them now, but less often with the passage of time.

I've been lucky in that my boyfriend is an ex jw himself who also had a pre jw life, and had been out for quite a while before we got together. I can't imagine how traumatic it must be for those who suddenly find themselves completely alone after so many years, perhaps an entire lifetime, spent in such an isolationist cult as the wts. I really don't know how I'd have handled something like that, but probably not very well.

I don't believe that it is any kind of demonic influence exerted by the wts that causes such trauma for those who leave, rather the constant indoctrination jws receive from the org. If you've undergone this level of indoctrination for many years, or even all your life, it has to be difficult, maybe even impossibble, to ever really get it totally out of your system.

compound complex

Dear Greendawn,

Good to see you back on board. In nearly sixty years of living amidst the likes of psychological chaos described here at JWD, my strictly self-imposed, six-month absense from the KH has worked wonders. Certifiable mental illness in my family, combined with WT brain-melt, had to be escaped. Though I have always done as I was told, I was desperate. Now I'm really doing quite well. Last night I dreamed I told my family that I could not distribute the tract because it went against my conscience. Even though it was only a dream, out-and-out defiance is not my nature. Isn't the tract work over? My subco-levels need re-programming.

May all of you find peace, whatever it takes. If I found it, I'm sure you will too.

CoCo in Control

lfcviking

'it was the feeling of being so easily fooled that hurt me the most initially, '

Yes 'fullofdoubtnow' i feel the same way as you, the way i was so easily taken in with Bulls**t. They give you answers to your questions that at the time seem quite plausible and give you the illusion of paradise and thats it your sucked in. They are crafty arent they?

juni

Thanks CoCo. I appreciate the well wishes as it is a long road of recovery.

Some, like my husband NEVER believed any of the BS.

I'm sorry I forgot who said this. But.....my husband was the same way even though he was a MS for many years. The kids and myself were the ones who were deeply hurt emotionally by this religion. They are older now. One son has been through 2 divorces and has low self-esteem. Second oldest is living in the past and enjoying things he wasn't allowed and he has a very hard time committing to a relationship. He's had many wonderful girlfriends, but afraid to committ. Doesn't trust. Third son is just now going through a divorce. He still has issues w/his dad which all of the kids do. My daughter has changed the most from the JW experience. She has gone from a shy girl to one who has her boundaries set and no one passes through them. She helps her brothers a lot dealing w/the past. They confide in her.

They all feel that dad did not protect them (especially since he says he didn't believe the crapola) and stand up to the elders when they got drug in over various normal teen behavior.

And I'm dealing w/my own emotional upset and stuck in the middle trying to get through to my husband with all of this. And he doesn't know what to say to them. I've been the one besides my daughter to help all of them.

Sorry this is so long.

Juni

Abandoned

What is the cause of the psychological turbulence caused by the jw?

Well, when you live in a situation that you are convinced is different than it is. And you act in this situation like you believe it to be rather than based on reality. Eventually you are going to receive feedback based on how things actually are and not based on the delusions. You will associate this feedback to your perceived reality and not to what's actually happening. Thus your judgment is being MAJORLY SCREWED UP.

Psychological turbulence upon leaving the WTS

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