by easyreader1970 17 Replies latest jw friends
I know it's sometimes hard to pinpoint causes of things when there could be several potential causes.
I am wondering if anyone here knows anyone (or maybe you yourself) who has had a nervous breakdown directly or indirectly because of being associated with the Jehovah's Witnesses.
I am not on the verge yet, I don't feel like, but then again maybe these things just snap in a person.
er
Greetings Easy,
Yes, at Bethel - too much responsibility for any young man, especially when saying "NO" is never a viable option when feeling burdened.
In addition to the work itself at Bethel, there were congregational responsibilities that included helping non-English-speaking members who could not properly care for medical, legal and other matters without our help.
The expectations and demands upon us were a form of voluntary imprisonment. I believed absolutely that to ignore the needs of others was unconscionable and unpardonable.
I was not alone ...
CoCo
Yes, I knew a man about 36-37 years ago that had a nervous breakdown and had to be hospitalized directly related to JW. I left the JWs not too long after that. It would not surprise me at all if there were many.
I also have a cousin that is paranoid schizophrenic. I absolutely believe that being a JW contributed to her mental health collapse and her lack of getting any help or support from her family. She lives now as a homeless person.
I have another cousin that was a Bethelite. Some years ago he was DF. He has been a chronic alcoholic ever since and has been married several times and had several other affairs. He has never maintained a stable relationship since then.
Yours truly suffered a breakdown in 2005 due to trying to take care of my semi-invalid mother and meet all the demands of being a JW.
Sylvia
I had a nervous breakdown in 1993 and was hospitalized for 15 days because of PTSD from my JW days. Had five years of psychotherapy after that.
StAnn
Yes. Me. I had a similar experience to Snowbird. Too many straws on the camel's back and the meeting schedule broke me. My current therapist called it exhaustion. She said that when celebrities used to be hospitalized for exhaustion or they were said to have collapsed in exhaustion that it's a real thing.
I have never been the same. I am like a jigsaw puzzle with a couple of pieces gone.
I have, though I was told by ex-Bethel, ex-RBC blah blah elder that it was because I didn't pray enough - he didn't know how much I prayed for stress to go away! I agree with CoCo that there is too much stress. Pioneering in the foreign-language field - sitting on the platform and telling the circuit how great it is - hmmmm - learning the language, doing the pioneer hours, doing meeting items, doing all the field service arrangements, numerous servant jobs (I was doing magazines, litreature, territory, sound desk and platform - got a bit impossible at times, and elders would loose their tempers) as well as work elders were assigned and claiming to have done, such as shepherding visits (!?) - blatant-power stuggles among elders, being stabbed in the back, lied about - then the pressure to help out my foreign brothers, who need help with job applications, state paperwork, not to mention, they had no car amongst them all, so "rich" English-speaking boy had to drive them shopping, to work etc. frequently or be unpopular with much of the group :(
I've been broken down, beyond broken down, and then beyond the beyond. It's not entirely bad, I've almost reached a sort of Zen-like state.
Yes, at Bethel - too much responsibility for any young man, especially when saying "NO" is never a viable option when feeling burdened.
There have been at least two Bethel suicides because of these kind of issues.
No but I did have a lot of anxiety problems as a teenager.
