Thank you, Just Ron for your welcome:

by Flossycat 16 Replies latest jw friends

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  cantleave

  Nice to meet you Flossycat!
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  just Ron

  Thanks for sharing. Glad to here that you are living a happy life now.

  Ron
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  Gayle

  welcome,,Flossycat,,so glad that life is going so well for you now. Please let us know how the Cult Info conference goes. Wonder if they will bring up subject of "Jehovah's Witnesses" there?
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  Flossycat

  If the subject of JWs isn't raised at the conference, I'll do it. Senator Nick Xenophon (a key speaker) has a copy of my book.

  Thanks for the warm welcomes. Much appreciated
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  Flossycat

  Hi from Australia. Just looking back over comments above is great - love Just Ron and Finally Awake chiming in together - your logo is great.

  Back from the Brisbane Cult info conference. Amazing, fabulous and, at times, horrifying. There was a girl in the audience who escaped from a satanic cult - just horrifying. Won't go into details here till I get her approval to speak publicly about it. Others gave testimonials of getting trapped in seemingly helpful New Age psychology groups which make the JWs look like a walk in the park by comparison. I was the only JW there, incidentally - got to say my piece when we had a segregated session for 'survivors' downstairs. A lot of 'survivors' were only out of cults for one or two years, so they're still very hurt and easily upset, a number bursting into tears before they got their first few words out - overwhelmed by the love and care they felt being at the conference - then tears for what they've endured.

  Clinical psychologist, Professor Doni Whislett (think that's right spelling) from California has dealt with cult and ex-cult members for many years. (If you closed your eyes during her discourses you'd swear it was Meryl Streep speaking.) Anyway, one of Doni's lectures explained, in part, why it's so difficult for children raised in cults, or people who've spent many years in a cult to completely free their minds - from a pure neuro-biological analysis - which is really comforting to anyone who might get down on themselves for not thinking/acting the way they thought they should after de-programming. We: 1/ learned not to trust others. 2/ learned helplessness. 3/ Had our stress responses dulled. 4/ Had no sense of personal choice.

  Something that really made sense to me: Over years of being in a cult, not being allowed to think for themselves for many years, their brians' neurons-axons-dendrites wiring has withered, doesn't function anymore. However, because the brain is plastic (as opposed to rusted?), an empathetic environment where the person feels safe can help them rebuild and begin to exercise their powers of reason. New experiences re-wire the brain. Therapy re-wires the brain.

  Lifton's research and 7 points of brainwashing - how the gradual process of normalising of cult's beliefs ends up resulting in 'anxious dependency'.

  Lalich: 'Bounded Choice': How people in cults say their actions/deeds are done willingly - but it's not really willing when it comes at a price, or there's a price to pay for not doing something that's meant to be done 'willingly'. At what points do 'voluntary' become obligations?

  When Doni said some mystical groups use the terminology "heavenly deception" to justify illegal/immoral behaviour, it reminded me of the JWs' "theocratic warfare" - and how such in-house terminology blankets the real meaning/turns it into something normal and right, for the 'Higher good'/glorying God.

  Geez - 5 emotional signs of PTSD were outlines, and I'd had them all. Then the 5 physical signs of PTSD and I'd had 3. Speaker said ex-cult memebers frequently have what's called complex PTSD: In chronic trauma cortisol (adrenaline) levels remain chronically high. Or, never returned to base line/normal levels. They've spent much of their lives fluctuating between chronically high level of cortisol (adrenaline) due to chronic stress - then PTSD symptoms which is chronically low cortisol - going round and round till mental and physical damage begins to show, like depression/anxiety/schizophrenia etc, and insomnia, gastro-intestinal problems, headaches/migraine, back/neck problems, anorexia.

  Putting words on trauma (through therapy for eg.) helps bring down the terror. Which is why forums such as this one is so helpful and healing for many.

  NICK XENOPHON spoke with passion: He'd like to see the French model of the Anti Cult Act employed in Australia. It's a big call. A couple of points I only had time to note down were - cults=abuse of an individual's weakness, and exploitation; When ex-members become refugees in their own community.

  Nick X urged each and every one of us to assist in getting community, State and national awareness up and running via each State's Defence Council, State Law depts, the ACCC (Rod Simms). AND through getting knowledgable people in the Fair Work Act to recognise groups/organisations/cults that oppress and work under misleading/false premises. In Queensland, senator Sue Boyce (who joined with an Aboriginal Elder in opening the conference) is keen to assist. We are urged to write to the new Attorney General Nicol Roxon, who, Nick thinks might be more positive to our causes than the previous AG. (Not that the previous one was antagonistic - just didn't see cults as a priority.)

  Unfortunately, because the conference was running behind shcedule and it was still morning presentations, Nick only had 7 minutes to answer questions after he got down from the platform when we broke for morning tea. By that time was almost peeing in my pants; the reptilian/surival brain overtook the neo-cortex/judgement section and I scuttled out of the auditorium, down the hallway.

  Hope my notes so far have provided something of value to you? There's more if you like.
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  Flossycat

  PS - what happened to the cat that looks like a guinea pig? Made my night, that did.
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  Scott77

  welcome.