Re: Metatron
Which is why I come here, it serves as a counterbalance and helps me keep my sanity!
How You Can Encourage Mental Illness
by metatron 15 Replies latest jw friends
-
-
Dia
I don't know if mentally unstable people are attracted to JWs - I could see where one could surely make that assumption. But one of the things that Dr. Bergman says is that there is evidence that even disturbed people IMPROVE when they leave the Witnesses.
Reading your post is like 'old times' for me. I left so long ago (I was a teen) that I almost can't remember those things.
But your post brings them back. This may sound weird, but really, I appreciate it. Ill as it makes me, I guess it is a part of my life. (Ech! Spit! Poo! Gag!)
They should not, however, be allowed to indoctrinate their children with this crap. This should be recognized for what it is - psychological abuse. And, in my opinion, JWs ought to have their kids taken away from them on the grounds that they are mentally incompetent.
Bad as this is, it's even worse when it takes place in the context of a further abusive home.
Edited by - Dia on 30 July 2002 8:35:14
-
blacksheep
Wow
-
blacksheep
Oops, sorry for the above, I had a tad bit more to say than "Wow." Not much, mind you.
Anyway, very astute observation. As someone who's been "out" for over 15 years, I have to agree. I believe it was my sheer quest for mental stabilty and survival that forced me to "out" myself. Now, when I talk to my JW relatives (spoke with my sister about 3 weeks ago, and I doubt we'll be conversing any time soon), it was really as though I WAS talking to someone mental. The "normal" person (what Steve Hassan calls the "Mary/Mary") was there until we hit on certain topics. Then she became clearly the "Cult/Mary" and went off on all these totally ludicrous perceptions of reality. She was no longer my sister. I kid you not. Bizarre. Later, when I related pieces of our conversation to a couple of other "normal" non-JW people, without using any references to Steve Hassan, cults, weirdos, or ANYTHING, they said that my sister sounded "brainwashed." Their words exactly.
They're right. In order for most JWs to survive in the religion, they have to employ various forms of mental illness to deal with "reality."
-
waiting
Hello Onacruse,
Thank you so much for the book reference - and a more succinct inner look at the WT and followers, I've not read. Will look into that book for sure!
The Addictive Organization (Anne Wilson Schaef and Diane Fassel; Harper & Row 1988) has some interesting comments along this line of thought that fit JWs to a tee:
"An addiction is any substance or process that has taken over our lives and over which we are powerless...in such a way that we feel we must be dishonest with ourselves or others about it...Addictions fall into two major categories: substance addictions and process addictions... The common process addictions are work, sex, money, gambling, religion, relationships, and certain types of thinking...the purpose or function of an addiction is to put a buffer between ourselves and our awareness or feelings..
An addictive system is first of all a closed system...because it presents very few options to the individual in terms of roles and behaviors...The major defense mechanism[s] of the addictive system is [are] denial... confusion... self-centeredness... dishonesty... perfectionism... ethical deterioration.
..whenever we confuse religion with spirituality, we are opting for the structure, control, and rules of an addictive system..
The organization becomes an addictive substance when its actions are excused because it has a lofty mission...grandiosity is one of the characteristics of the addicitve system...Grandiosity keeps the mission lofty and frequently unattainable...When organizations function as the addictive substance, it is in their interest to keep promoting the vision of the mission, because as long as the employees are hooked by it, they are unlikely to turn their awareness to the present discrepancies.
They choose to stay numb in order to stay in the organization...Addictive organizations become more isolated the more they sink into their disease...In the addictive organization, everyone is trying to find out what is really going on with the firm and believes that it is possible to get such information. Of course, these efforts are futile, because it is frequently an illusion that anything is really going on in the first place." (paragraphs & bold added)
-
Pathofthorns
Nice post metatron...
Too many JW's (and maybe non-JW's) are taking anti-depressants and hitting the bottle hard without changing what is causing their depression. But how many would actually stop and realize that what they've built their whole life around is causing them to feel this way? I mean aren't they the "happiest people on earth"?
Most of us know that it is difficult to abandon this "religion" but I would say most of us found a great weight lifted off of us when we ceased involvement. Once you work through the difficult exit period I think many feel much better about themselves and life and the world around them.
Path