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bigmouth

Visiting my sons workplace yesterday and a colleague of his calls me over.

"Tell me what you know about Jehovahs Witnesses" he says.
Where did THAT come from I wondered.

It turns out that he has studied and attended meetings erratically over about 3 years and has had a gutsfull. He must have spilled some to my son who said that he had been brought up a Witness and now we were all out.

The interesting (unprompted) comments he made in our short chat was that he had got the sense of never being good enough, never doing enough. He had a breakdown in the midst of it and during this time had learned that near HALF the congregation were on anti-depressants!

I gave him a look that said 'Well, what does that tell you?'

I told him that I had found that I was in a cult for 15 years and never knew it. Then one day I found myself in hospital. I told him to get as far from the pessimistic Witnesses as he possibly could.

So I reckon I got more anti-witnessing time in than Hortensia!!!LOL

freedomfighter

Yes I heard a comment made by one of the brothers a coupla years ago "Half the congregation is on medication and the other half probably should be!" You cannot deny that somethings wrong if that is the case.

I have suffered depression for years and ithink alot of it is caused because you can never do enough or be good enough. If you're spending 12hrs in field service why not arrange your employment so you can pioneer etc.

On the other hand you are taught that Jehovah knows what we are capable of and even if it isn't much, it is acceptable to Him.

The struggle between these 2 lines of reasoning can make anybody feel depressed and worthless!

regards FF

bigmouth

I was just thinking, at one of my lowest points I had TWO YEARS of W/t's and Awakes on my bedside cabinet waiting for me to catch up with the bountiful spiritual food!

I beat myself up for not being able to stay on top of the Theocratic Workload.

No wonder I felt worthless.

Gopher

How often did we actually get words of appreciation or commendation from the organization or the Kingdom Hall platform?

Humans desire appreciation (even for small things done well), it makes them thrive. But they don't get it often enough at the Kingdom Hall. Here's the scripture that was beaten into our heads "I am a worthless slave. I was only doing what I ought to do."

purplesofa

I was wondering if you are really from New Zealand?

purps

erandir

On the subject of depression, I got better after I decided to stop worrying about attending the meetings and focus on getting a good job regardless of the hours. I had quit a good job years before in order to get a job that paid less, was less reliable work, but was a day job...just so I could attend the meetings. It took me years of struggling with making ends meet with this job and of stuggling with depression to realise that I should go back to my good job, work nights, and not worry about the meetings any more. And guess what? It worked. I'm so happy now.

What does that tell you?

AlmostAtheist

>>I was just thinking, at one of my lowest points I had TWO YEARS of W/t's and Awakes on my bedside cabinet waiting for me to catch up with the bountiful spiritual food!

Busy work is the name of the game. Gotta keep the drones busy, always busy. And never enough time to do it all. Sickening.

You get the biggest gold star of all for keeping that man off the treadmill! He'll never know what you did for him today!

Dave

PEC

Once I realized that I was going to die at Armageddon, I moved from depression to acceptance. Went on to have a life and 28 years later am planning to die of old age in another 30, 40 or 50 years. This is for you WTBTS, alt

Philip

bigmouth

"I was wondering if you are really from New Zealand?"

Yes Purps, I really, truly am!

I live in the province of Otago which is in the bottom of the South Island. About 3 hours drive from Queenstown if you know where that is.

Why do you ask?

Cindi_67

I have suffered depression for years and ithink alot of it is caused because you can never do enough or be good enough. If you're spending 12hrs in field service why not arrange your employment so you can pioneer etc.
On the other hand you are taught that Jehovah knows what we are capable of and even if it isn't much, it is acceptable to Him.
The struggle between these 2 lines of reasoning can make anybody feel depressed and worthless!

Those are the exact lines that started to get me depressed too. Wow, there we go again with the depression. I really never realized how many JW's were or are under medication. But the not doing enough is the real reason why some of them are depressed. I was, but not anymore. And I feel great, WITHOUT MEDICATION.

Surprise Question at the 'Shop'

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