Yes, as do a number of family and friends in the borg.
Did you suffer from panic attacks in the borg?
by highdose 27 Replies latest jw friends
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yellow
I did then was d/f, during all the time I was going to mtgs to try and get reinstated I never had one, I think it had something with not having to talk to the bros. Then when I was reinstated and back in the fold they started all over again. (weird)
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pixiesticks
Yes. I did.
I would get feelings of panic, being trapped and unbearable pent-up tension during every assembly and some meetings. Actual full on panic attacks with racing heart, shortness of breath, dizziness and faintness, I've only had a few, but all of them were related to the Witnesses. One particularly bad one, where I felt like I was going to pass out was after I'd had a massive arguement with my parents one the subject of Armageddeon. Another was after a book study where the elder made a horrific, graphic descriptions of people dying at Armageddeon with their eye-rotting out while they were still alive. Then he made a joke about it and everyone in the room laughed. I thought I was going to be sick and had a massive panic in the bathroom when I got home.
In my last few years as a Witness, I suffered with a lot of anxiety. I'd get so anxious, that some days I couldn't even bring myself to leave my own bedroom. Everything outside it just seemed to daunting. I had to call in sick to work many time just because I couldn't get out my own front door.Now I'm not a Witness I don't get any of that any more. I still get feelings of claustrophobia when I'm at the meetings, but now I know what they're teaching is all BS, I don't panic. :)
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WTWizard
I never felt panic, but everything was so blah that I did not really give a fxxx when Armageddon was coming, or if I was to make it through.
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Mincan
I had anxiety, no panic until I left, about 8 months after that. They lasted for a few months although I still suffer from debilitating anxiety every day and what can be called anxiety attacks, these are minus the world-ending panic of the panic attack.
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Found Sheep
I did and now only do when something about the JW's comes up... I was constantly doing things I didn't want or feel good doing, and it was ok that it was difficult because serving the borg is hard because the devil makes it hard....
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Lady Lee
For those of you who are having anxiety/panic attacks now please know you aren't alone. It is part of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). For years you have been told terrible things will happen to you if you leave. The attacks are the reaction to leaving and the anxiety of wonder what terrible thing might happen to you. What if Armageddon comes and you are not a JW? What if it comes and you are not at the meetings? What if it comes and you don't believe the JWs have "the Truth" TM ?
Recognizing what is behind the attacks is the first step to dealing with them. Just remind yourself that the JWs do not have "The Truth" TM . You don't have to continue to believe The Lie. Ground yourself in reality. I used to recommend that people touch something solid, preferably something cold like the metal on a chair. This can help ground a person in the here and now instead of a bunch of future "what ifs. . . " And focus on your breathing. Long slow breaths will help get you grounded.
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Elsewhere
> No, but I have them now.
Same here... only I would describe my experience as a "panic attack in slow motion".
I'll wake up in the middle of the night... usually around 2:00 or 3:00 AM and will just lay there, unable to sleep, with incredible fear for several hours.
In folklore this is know as the "Witching Hour".
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paul from cleveland
Same here... only I would describe my experience as a "panic attack in slow motion".
I'll wake up in the middle of the night... usually around 2:00 or 3:00 AM and will just lay there, unable to sleep, with incredible fear for several hours.
Elsewhere, that is what I experience too. I keep a bottle of sleeping pills and a glass of water by my bed because of this. When I wake up in the middle of the night terrified and drenched in 'cold sweat', I change my t-shirt, move to a dry part of the bed, take another pill, and go back to sleep.
Even during the day, I carry a sense of 'impending doom' and terror with me always. Work distracts from it. At night, though, is when it really all comes out. I know it sounds stupid, but, sometimes I have friends or even my dad sleep over because I'm 'scared'. I'm sort of in a constant state of panic. I think, for me, it's because I'm not sure about whether or not I'm making a mistake regarding the Witnesses.
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Farkel
The whole damned experience was one continuous panic attack, especially everytime I looked out my window and saw Jehovah's eyeball glued to it. Scary.
Farkel