I was browsing some ex-mormon forums and I noticed that many of the experiences sound similar. People spoke about brain washing, viewing outsiders as being ignorant of the truth, im not sure if im allowed to copy and paste from other forums, if im not please let me know but here are a couple quotes from ex mormon forums:
"Something I very strongly believe, is that even though everything has crumbled to the ground for me right now, I wouldn't change the fact that I left the church for anything. I know it's the source of my unhappiness, but it's not because I left "the truth" and am bitter about what I've done. No, it's because the church teaches to put religion before family, and that's what mine has done. I'm the odd one out, the outcast, the black sheep(I won't say ugly duckling, because I'm a dashing young fellow 
) and it's all thanks to the church's mentality that they come first, and family comes second."
and another that I think ALOT of JW's can relate to:
"It's quite funny because the church constantly says how important the family is, but yet when a family member goes inactive or leaves altogether, it's all of a sudden an "us vs. them" attitude..."
"Whenever members of the church say, "Even if the church isn't true, it teaches good things!" I always think to myself, "OF COURSE they teach good things. Would they really garner any new members and retain their current members if they didn't have a front?"
The previous quotes were from one person, Heres one from another person on the same thread:
"Mormonism so clearly destroys families. You MUST conform or else you're out... It's like getting punched in the face, and having the aggressor apologize that you found it hurtful. They aren't even apologizing for what they've done; they are apologizing for how you have reacted."
Is leaving JW's difficult because you are in fact leaving "the truth", the church of God? or is it because you are leaving a controlling religion? It sounds to me like many of the experiences shared on this forum are common of both JW and Mormonism. I would imagine that leaving the church of the ONE TRUE GOD AND CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE would be different than leaving some crazy left field religion like LDS (in JW perception, I disagree with their teachings but this thread is not meant to debate theology). It would appear that having the true HOLY SPIRIT withdrawn from you would be quite a different experience than leaving a church who is not favored by God where you didnt have any Holy Spirit in the first place. However, many of the experiences sound the same. One question I have though is if there has been as much research into brainwashing and mind control in Mormonism as there has been in JW. I thought this would be a good opportunity to gather these quotes onto one thread to demonstrate the similarities between controlling authoritarian religions to show that the whole experience with JW's is fairly common and not unique to "the truth". Perhaps people with more insight and knowledge of both religions might be able to explain the similarities between the Mormon and JW experience more clearly and in depth. Thank you