How Many Had Chronic fatigue syndrome?

by OnTheWayOut 43 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  snare&racket

  Most young people left bethel with 'burnout'. The uk bethel even had a doctor who specialised in ME. I think the contributing factors of so many presentations in the JW's are self explanatory.

  Factors that are thought to contribute to some people developing CFS/ME include:

  • Inherited genetic susceptibility (it is more common in some families).
  • Viral infections such as glandular fever.
  • Exhaustion and mental stress.
  • Depression.
  • A traumatic event such as bereavement, divorce or redundancy.

  The following factors are thought to make CFS/ME worse:

  • Recurring infections with viral or bacterial germs.
  • Not being active enough, or even being too active.
  • Stress.
  • Poor diet.
  • Being socially isolated and/or feeling frustrated and depressed.
  • Environmental pollution.
• 

  XBEHERE

  When I was at Bethel this was a relatively new (at the time) buzzword for sisters especially. That and Carpal Tunel Syndrome. We all thought that a lot of them were dropping those conditions so that they could get transferred out of cleaning. I know now that they are real conditions but explain to me how waking up at the same time as usual and sorting mail, sitting at a front desk answering phones, etc. is better for CFS? Not sure
• 

  cult classic

  Speaking of burnout

  During pioneer school one day the CO made a big to do about burnout. He went into the definition and causes of it and stated that the prevention and cure for burnout was the full-time ministry.

  "How could you ever get burned out serving Jehovah?" were his exact words. He was absolutely serious.
• 

  freddo

  NHS website (UK) says 250,000 in the UK have CFS. So 1 in 250.

  In my hall there are at least 4 self diagnosed/real diagnosed, so 1 in 15/20. Dozens more in the circuit.

  A JW illness indeed.

  Yet the majority all had "good days" when they needed to go on holiday or walk the dogs or go down the benefits office.

  One woman got herself a scheduled list of help so that some dumb schmucks had a rota to cook her and her husband (another crazy) a meal every day. One sister with three kids faithfully turns up with something mid-afternoon to put in the oven for later. Said M.E. sufferer is stood on a stepladder cutting her garden hedges ... "It's one of my good days" she says.

  Well get off your ass, cook a meal and tell the sister not to bother then!

  Don't get me started.
• 

  cult classic

  LOL Freddo. The learned helplessness of the sickly JW is a hot mess for sure.
• 

  Julia Orwell

  Certain jobs are better for CFS sufferers than others. Something very physical or stressful can wear you out more than a few hours sitting in an office. I had to have my work hours reduced with my onset of CFS (triggered by my cult involvement and a nasty bacterial infection which landed me in hospital on iv antibiotics and an operation) because I would shake and feel flu-like symptoms if I over did it. And you do have good days. On these days I'd get things done, but if I didn't pace myself I wouldn't be able to get out of bed the next day, or at best I'd need a big afternoon nap.

  Jws are more prone to fatigue issues because of the pointless grind of their lives and the stress that comes from constantly suppressing authentic self. It is a sign that something is drastically wrong with their lives and their bodies are rebelling. There are others who use it to mooch or play Munchausens, but I reckon most have it as a bodily reaction to being in a busy high control cult.
• 

  OnTheWayOut

  Cult Classic, you hit on a huge part of this thought: common illnesses are very exaggerated.

  snare&racket, excellent display of the factors. Thanks.

  XBEHERE, great add to the thread.

  Cult Classic, HA on the burnout. That's the cause, not the cure.

  freddo, that's priceless.

  Julia, I think you summed up the thread nicely: Jws are more prone to fatigue issues because of the pointless grind of their lives and the stress that comes from constantly suppressing authentic self.
• 

  Legacy

  Hi,

  I think most witnesses not all, are complainers. When they start they start a medical record with the friends...so when they are not at the hall or in field service, someone will say, oh, sister or brother so & so isn't here...you know they suffer with....blah blah blah....that way, they are not questioned & when they do show up they can say, you know my so & so was acting up, so that's why I didn't come...then the other friend says, I know what you mean, my so & so was acting up too...& so the story goes. That's all they talk about before & after the meetings... or that they saw so & so, this place or that place. I think it really has nothing to do with being a witness, but that is who they were before they started. It's about attention. Another reason is that they suppress. Imagine reading the scriptures for yourself, then going to the meeting or reading their literature & it doesn't line up &&&&, you can't say a thing about it. Most witnesses don't have an outlet, so their bodies turn on them. The org. keeps witnesses so busy, they can't even think. I agree with who said, they are afraid to say, I am tired, & that's why I didn't do this or that....So the only thing you can say is...I was sick...then the sympathy comes & this ole system, I'll be glad when the new system comes...stuff like that....When you pass by witnesses talking all you hear is I suffer with this or that...I once was going out in service, & was about to go into the hall, it was a nice day....so one witness said to the other...."Isn't it a nice day"? The other witness answered yes, but you know my diabetes 2......It's all about their ailments & their suffering, like other folks don't suffer. Witnesses are suppressed & uptight, they are afraid to be shunned, so they clam up when they see or hear something that just doesn't seem right. Like this 1914 thing, most witnesses don't buy it, but what can they say, so what happens, they suppress how they feel & the body takes over...When I'm out, I just say, I hit a wall....I was tired, & I really don't care how they view me. I do what I can, I'm not there to please any of them, I don't mind a pat on the back every once in a while but I'm not that needy. I don't need to tell anyone how long I was out in service or who I saw, or any idle talk. Maybe most of the witnesses need approval & that's why most are there...Remember back in the bible times, when folks had leprosy, they colonized them, what folks can't cure they colonize (our prison systems, folks that society just threw away, cause they can't cure them), so, witnesses have colonized themselves because they can't be cured...birds of a feather....Maybe witnesses are just whinney kids in adult costumes.....I'm just saying...the main reason they suffer from CFS, is just plain suppression ...& many were like that before they came.

  Legacy
• 

  nonjwspouse

  Legacy,

  You hit a nerve with my situation. My husband was physically out and mentally lazy ( just didn't evaluate or critically think about the WT etc.,) for nearly three decades, and during that time was extremly healthy and active... then illness hit. For real ones that are lifelong. It's a tough thing to be hit with when you deep down you would never grow old ( also grow to be sick) . So the illnsses hit him and for a while he was trying not to be preoccupied with it. But then he gradually was, and that is when he began regaining interest in the JW. He is now a bit hypocodiratic and fatalistic sometimes, even though he does have enough real illness to go onto disability. Each ache or pain becomes something horrible, though I can't blame him in some ways because it does sometimes seem that way. The JW provide a perfect atmosphere for pacifying that kind of thinking.

  This is one of the reasons I am so afraid he will dive in to the JW eventually. Being born-in he is already primed, mentally indocrinated, and also has built the wall against anything negative about the WT.

  I have wondered about the situations of many that night cause them to join, and it seems like illness, and abuse or other traumatic type things really prime a person to be indoctrinated with the WT "rescue" and "answers". My husband's mother's family were the JW. Her mother converted and brought the children in. My husband's mother's family suffered some bad abuse that no one talks about, only occasionaly it is alluded to. She is the youngest and seems to hopefully have been spared from the worst, but came to live with her married older sister at 16, so there was something not right there. The older siblings except the one she went to stay with are "crazy" as my husband and others call them. His mother is not what I would call crazy, but lives in her own reality that makes sense to her, and ony her sometimes. She is a "liberal" JW that always has Christmas the day after with lots of gifts etc... However, she is not a critical thinker at all. She is entirely likable. Kinda sad to me that she is so deluded. Scary for me because she is my MIL and is reinforcing my husbands JW thinking.
• 

  Legacy

  Hi NonJWSpouse,

  What I'm finding out many of the witnesses didn't really have a normal upbringing. There were some quirks. Nobody has a normal upbringing, but if you talk to some of them, things just don't seem right. I spoke to a sister about my upbringing & she said, I'm much different from many witnesses & I was fortunate...Now for me, everyone I grew up with had the same upbringing I did. Again, I think it's a place for those who want to belong & are needy. I find myself to be an open witness. I listen & don't judge...I may notice something & even comment on it, but not enough to judge anyone, because I'm no better than anyone else. I don't even look at other religions & judge them because I don't want to be judged for being a witness. This was my choice, I like it, but don't agree with everything they say, & I don't mention it...I just say, I don't understand it...that way, they leave me alone.

  What makes folks join...well, just imagine....we knock on doors....we don't know who is behind these doors, some folks keep to themselves because they may be mental, abused, whatever...now, let's say, most of the time some of these folks never open the door, but one day, there is a knock on the door...you have issues, but today, you may have taken your meds or just plain lonely, because that person may have isolated themselves for whatever reason. Some folks have even chased folks away because they are always complaining about this illness or another.So again, there is a knock on the door, & someone ask you ...Have you heard the good news...that person is so happy to hear a knock at the door....Bingo...they have found another convert...Crazy as cat crap...but that's what happens when you go out in service, you are libel to attract anyone..but most likely the ones we attract are birds of a feather...there is definitely a common denominator...Haven't identified it as of yet, but what one thing that comes to mind, illness & shinning...

  Hope we get to talk again,

  Legacy