Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and those who leave cults (page 2)

mary stewart

i think 7a is really all i have. i believe in the trinity, but i'm an atheist. ehe!

i used to have heeling of hopelessness when i faded the 1st time. well, it was a quick fade. :)

LadyLee..As usual,another great thread.......I think more than a few,can Identify with those symptoms.....It`s safe to say the WBT$ cult,the "Jehovah`s Witness`s can be described as a health risk.............. Clint Eastwood ...OUTLAW

jam

I have told my story before, my ptsd. To make along story short..I was suffering from Ptsd when I became a JW.. I served in viet nam in 67-68.1cav div.. I drink a lot as a JW but was able move up over the years and became a elder...But when I walk away from the borg. thats when the problems begain..I eventually got help from the VA when I was diagnose with ptsd...He told me I kept it under control with my faith, even thou I had nightmares all those years..When i got out of the borg..there was a period of time i really begain to drink heavy.I was discharge out of the army 1968, became a jw 1970. The va doctor told me , because of the damage from viet nam, and becoming a jw and not receiving help at a early time I have irreversible damage, chemical unbalance..The fainting spells begain, sometimes up too 8hrs.,my driving privileges where taken away, all this before I received help...A strange thing happen with me as the years pass.With veit nam It dawn on me, many times i was so close to death, I was young.With the Jw is was so controlling. But I have moved on, even thou iam 100% disable I have not been as happy in my life since high school..My wife tells me all the time I am a nut , I am a very happy nut..

dinah

((jam)) Vietnam Vets have my heart. I still don't get WTF was going on. But I was born in the middle of it.

My favorite line in this thread

i deal with "sometimes-I'd-rather-just-be-dead-than-deal-wtih-this-crap-any-longer syndrome"....

love it.

dannyboy

Lady Lee- Thanks for posting this. I've been out for about 9 years now, but I still am dealing with stuff/crap. ---Dannyboy

truthsetsonefree

Understanding the impact of our experience can help us to realize that it was traumatic and our reactions are the normal reactions to it.

This can be very important to realize for those of us with Witness family who throw questions at us like: "Why were/are you angry"? Or "Why don't you just move on and forget the Witnesses"?

Isaac

Awakened at Gilead

depersonalization (feeling like you aren't real)

I felt like this in the months after my rude awakening 8 months ago. When I would say things like "I don't believe in the Watchtower anymore" it would feel as if someone detached from me was saying it. I couldn't believe the words coming out of my mouth. But I had to say it to believe it.

My wife's family living with us at the time (one JW, one never baptized sympathizer) thought I wa sgoing crazy. I felt under the most emotional stress that I have ever endured in my life. Of course, it's been worth it, I have never before felt in control of my life, as I was always following the dictates of the cult and feeling "what will the friends say" about every personal decision.

@ Isaac... yes, I hear that all the time... "why can't you just get over it?" people say...

divadiow

Thank you for this post. Now a couple of years after having been DFd I feel I can relate to a lot of these feelings and points. I spent most days feeling like everything is disconnected, and unreal. I don't really know what angle to start on. I am just starting to see the same GP regularly as I seem to have been given loads of different ones who I have to start explaining everything to from the beginning.

Lady Lee

gregor

War changes people. Soldiers go off to war and come home. I think that here in Canada we might not realize how much PTSD affects them when they come home - and affects their families. My step-father was a vet and used alcohol to self-medicate. He was the sad drunk to would start talking about his experience adn then would cry. He had no other way to let thetrauma out.

Most definitely growing up with an alcpholic in teh family adds to any other stressful experiences a person goes through. And I think that would be enough to classify you into the Complex variety of PTSD

dinah Don't be surprised if he doesn't see it

SPAZ

I've posted it before - just the criteria without expanding on it. I suspect people can take my comments and find ways it fits into their experience - at least I hope that it helps do that.

mcsemike

Most of what I write is on my website -- or will be when I get organized

There aren't any real courses on cults yet - at least not that I know of. If I went back I would look at Social Work, Psychology, Religion, Sociology and perhaps a bit of Anthtopology. Put them all together and create my own Independant Program

It's hard not to feel hopeless when you lose everything and you have no idea what is on the other side except the bad things they have warned you about.

People are a lot nicer than the WTS wants JWs to know. In the JW world people help you because they have to demonstrate that JWs are better than other people. But in reality other people will do the same - AND they won't give credit to their religion. It's just what they do. I was out in the snowstorm the other day and kept getting stuck in snowbanks at every corner. Every single corner people stopped to help me when I got stuck. And not just 1 person stopping. Teams of them would flock around and push me out of the snow piles. The kindness of people is everywehere. JWs just don't recognize it.

Kinda off topic I guess- oh yeah my point - hopelessness is understandable but the truth is the world outside is a lot better than JWs know

OUTLAW

It`s safe to say the WBT$ cult,the "Jehovah`s Witness`s can be described as a health risk..............

Most definitely

jam

I think your experience is common to a lot of people. I was suffering from PTSD before I joined and for a while it helped me. But in the end it winds up doing just as much or even more damage - or just compounds it

Nothing wrong with being a happy nut

dannyboy (and others)

Think of it as peeling an onion. Recovery has layers. We can only deal with so many things at a time. And certain situations will trigger a new layer (marriage of a sibling where you are not invited, death of a JW parent, etc). We can't deal with them until they happen. So it may seem like it takes forever but every step taken now builds a foundation for future triggers to reduce the impact

"Why don't you just move on and forget the Witnesses"?

They haven't got a clue

davidiow

You'll find it a lot easier with just one GP. Mention PTSD and some of the symptopms. (welcome to posting)

justhuman

Really nice post.....I remeber when I had several of the symptoms described at your post. Many times I was thinking if I have gone crazy....I'm glad that most of us can continue with their lifes. but most of all I realize that I'm not the only one who has facing those problems and it was just a process that most of us have to face when we are dealing with Mind Control Cults

Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and those who leave cults

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