I found this interesting - it's the Questions From Readers in the May 1, 2003 Watchtower. Could it be that the boys in the Writing Department actually had a moment of reasonableness?
Voices in Head Not Demons? - WT Writers Have a Reasonable Moment?
by NeonMadman 9 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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NeonMadman
As I looked at this article a second time, the first sentence struck me as odd. Demons "have been reported to manifest themselves in that way"? Reported by whom? The person hearing the voices? Is someone who is hearing voices in his head really in a position to judge whether the voices are those of demons or merely manifestations of his own mental illness? There are certainly no cases in the Bible of demons manifesting themselves as immaterial voices - so where are these reports coming from, anyway?
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DFWnonJW
Interesting. I've been meaning to post a thread asking if anyone here "hears voices" in their head or knows someone that does/has.
My ex-girlfriend used to say she often heard voices and had to stop and figure out if it was "the voices in her head" or her children talking to her. Since I had never run into that sort of thing and the way she would say it I didn't really know what to make of it. Anyway, having thought about it alot since we broke up I looked up "hearing voices" on Yahoo and virtually everything relates it to schizophrenia. I think I was denying the signals because I was too close to the situation (love being blind and all that) but it is true that she used to to be VERY heavily into drugs (some 15 yrs previous).
Hindsight being what it is I also can say that there were some paranoid episodes as well and her brother told me he believes she is manic-depressive. My real concern is for her kids and I am still in contact with her family occasionally and have been told that they worry about the kids too. There's nothing I can do that I know of but it still weighs on my mind.
So, any experiences out there? Is it the drug use (possibly current given her situation) or, though I never even gave the 'demonz' angle a thought, was it a result of always watching Joyce Meyers? <laughing softly>
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artful
NeonMadman: The reason for this article is that those on the Governing Body have recently been hearing voices in their heads, and would like to discredit those who say that Satan is trying to use them as his channel! In other words, its OK if you hear voices in your head, it's not Satan, you're just mentally ill, and therefore still qualified to dispense the 'food at the proper time'.
This is sort of like when it suddenly became OK to have a cornea transplant in 1981. It would be interesting to check the NYC hospital records for the names of GB members (or their family) who underwent eye surgery that year!
Cheers Artful (of the conspiracy theory class) ;-) -
NeonMadman
The reason for this article is that those on the Governing Body have recently been hearing voices in their heads
LOL artful! That's exactly what my wife said last night when I told her about this article!!
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NeonMadman
My ex-girlfriend used to say she often heard voices and had to stop and figure out if it was "the voices in her head" or her children talking to her.
My JW ex-wife used to hear voices from time to time, but it was generally at night, so I chalked it up to lucid dreaming, drifting in and out of sleep and not knowing where the dream ended and wakefulness began, that sort of thing. She, of course, had no doubt that it was the demons talking to her.
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jesussaves
If only this article had come out twenty five years ago. Maybe my grandmother would have told my mother to get help. She was diagnosed as schizophrenic at the age of 22. My grandmother chalked it up to demons, and told my mother that she didn't need any medication. Her refusal to get help ruined her marriage, and caused me to grow up without a father. Now, some 28 years later, she's about a thousand percent worse. She can't hold a job or even take care of herself. Her house looks like a junkyard, she hoardes every piece of paper that she comes across. I can't persuade her to get help either. The society is always too little too late.
Tiffany
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SixofNine
DFW, *waves*
I don't know of any connection between drug use and schizophrenia. I suppose almost any mental illness might predispose a person toward abuse of drugs.
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Sentinel
When I disclosed at age thirteen that "angels sang to me", the JW's jumped right on that and planted the thought in me that it was demons. That totally freaked me out and distorted my thinking and reasoning processes. It was then, and only then, that fear and anxiety became a part of my young life.
Occasionally, I still hear my name called, or a firm but loving directive, like "look here" or "watch out" or "listen", very clearly and distinctly...and it does not frighten me in the least. It is very comforting whenever it happens, nighttime, daytime, like I really do have a connection to something.
For the longest time, the JW's invaded my life with their unreasonableness and scary judgments and I had no one to confide in, no understanding ear. I kept so much inside me, frightened and ashamed. Hopefully, they have learned something along the way. People do suffer from types of mental illness and chemical embalance, and they do not need to be labeled. They need a qualified diagnosis and treatment. They need love.
There is so much we cannot comprehend or understand about our tiny part in the universe. Sometimes, there is simply no explanation in human terms for what cannot be diagnosed away as illness or incapacity. If we are dealing with a "bad thing", we will know it or someone else will recognize it. And, in the same line of thought, if we are dealing with something "very good", we will know that as well.
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simplesally
From GOVTEEN. COM
REGARDING COCAINE: With continued use this can lead to paranoid psychosis. Regular users may appear chronically nervous, excitable and paranoid. Confusion with exhaustion, due to lack of sleep is common. These effects may all disappear once use is stopped, however a paranoid mental state may be irreversible and permanent.
From NFIA's website:
REGARDING PCP: PCP can cause effects that mimic certain primary symptoms of schizophrenia.