Did you suffer from panic attacks in the borg?

highdose

I can certainly say that i did and that i knew alot of others that did too. I can also say that i don't any more, i left my panic attacks in the KM!

What about you?

minimus

Never had one but knew some that did. It goes with the theocratic territory.

Yes, I used to have very bad panic attacks, I haven't in a very long time. I also dealt with a lot of anxiety and depression which are both getting far better. I used to get very sick before meetings, it was my body's way of trying to get out of something I didn't want to do so bad. That transferred to other areas of my life, and if I didn't want to do something, I would get sick. That's finally starting to not happen anymore, I've learned that for the most part, I can say no and avoid the situation entirely.

carpediem

No but I suffered terrible depression. I blamed it on everything and never suspected whilst I was in that being a dub was the problem. When I left, so did my depression. It hasn't returned in 8 the months Ive been out. There were so many in my cong with depression or other mental health issues. I am positive dubs suffer far more from mental health problems than the average, and I am sure many dubs dont realise it is because of their religion.

Lady Lee

I suffer major panic attacks as a JW although I didn't know what they were at the time. I remember sitting in the seat and feeling like if I didn't get up I was going to scream to release the tension. I spent most meetings pacing at the back of the hall. Having babies and needing to rock them at the hall helped and gave me an excuse to get up. Doing the interpreting helped a lot because I was standing and too busy to think to have an attack. The interpreting was something I loved but it was also a blessing in keeping the panic attacks at bay.

They stopped almost immediately after I left the JWs. JWs only had to sit for 2 hours which I found horrendous. But at school classes were 3 hours and I never once had an attack. That was pretty remarkable to me. I think it boiled down to wanting to be there vs. having to be there. Real learning in college and university was far batter and I learned one hell of a lot more than I learned in 22 years of sitting in a kh chair

leec

I remember once my friend calling me - crying hysterically - that the world was going to end, that all these scary things were happening, etc. I was taken aback, since whatever was going on at the time (whatever natural disaster, war, etc) seemed just as bad or good as the usual crap that goes on in this world. I had to "talk her down" - it was really disturbing. At the time I attributed it to her probably being upset about something else, but now in context I can see how immersion in the WTS's beliefs have contributed to it.

designs

I had them with giving the Public Talks towards the end of my career as an Elder. It was associated with the realization that I had to get away from that group. The body and mind are funny things, those auto-responses to stress or danger or things that no longer make sense.

crapola

Yes I did. I used the play the piano and at one meeting halfway through the song I had one and just had to stop playing. Everyone kept singing while I sat there and cried and tried to breathe. I did'nt play for long after that. My nerves just would'nt let me anymore.

dobbie

Yep me too, in my early days of marriage i'd start an argument with hubby so i could stay at home and get out of going! If i didn't start feeling breathless and trapped outside the hall i felt like it as soon as i walked in. I used to get constant aches and pains on meeting days and rarely get them since i've left!

Lady Lee i was like that, once i had my little one i was glad to be able to escape to the second hall. I was left alone in there except for when they had the circuit overseer visit and they'd try to persuade me back in just to swell the numbers up. There was a few others who used to have to take their rescue remedy to get thru the meetings, can't believe i used to put myself through it all!! Never feel like that now, like a weight's gone from my shoulders.