Do You Struggle With Depression??? (page 2)

Bibbitybobbityboo

I did - mildly while I was an active JW and then went through a severe bout during the process of leaving. I liken it to going through a divorce because you found out the love of your life was not who you thought he/she was and that you'd been living a lie for years. It's more like a mourning process I think. At least it was for me.

I sought help and got it! It took awhile to get over the hurt. Now the only time I feel depressed is when my JW family deliberately slanders my name because I no longer believe the lie. Even so, what once used to be a giant boulder blocking my path is now a pebble I can kick out of my way. I'm grateful for that.

Soledad

I've read here that many JW's were on either regular medication or silently accepted their depression with much prayer and tears. Then, when they decided to stop believing in the Witness set of ideals, they gradually got out of their depression..........

this was definitely me between the ages of 16-22. I only had one other bout with depression about 3 years ago, and that went away once I left a very lousy job behind.

Hyghlandyr

Not yet, but if you send me a picture of her I might change my answer....assuming she's cool enough lookin.

In any case I used to have massive bouts of depression. Then I left JWs in 1995 (and my wife..the first time) and wallah mysteriously the depression went away. Wooohoooo.

ballistic

I had a spell on anti depressants as a JW. They became obsolete after I left. Interestingly, as a witness I never admitted to it, similar to the stigma I held admitting I was a witness. Notice absolutely no stigma now. It's gone, just as the depression has.

larc

I don't know how many of you saw it, but I did a survey regarding, depression, anxiety, and low self esteem before and after being a Witness. I had about 80 people respond to it. About 70% had one or more of these conditions while a Witness. The number dropped to 30% since leaving. That is a huge difference.

So, I have to conclude that these symptoms are both situational and nonsituational in nature. I think that if you have a tendency towards depression, the religion makes the problem worse.

minimus

That Larc survey should be done again, with the newer members providing data.

shamus

I would love to see a poll like that!

To say that the Dubs did not contribute to my depression is false.... they sure did! The anxiety, stress, and all that Alia mentioned earlier were all true for me. Once I left, it was like a weight off my shoulders.

minimus

Shamus, I think your road to recovery will start when you change your pic.

shamus

Minimus,

Ha!

What's wrong with Bert? He tells me evil things and I act on them is all.... he tells me naughty things... evil things... I want to.... kiss you AAAAUUUUGGGGHHH!

(A little nuts tonite!)

Ghost of Esmeralda

Clinical depression and the various types of bipolar depression are very treatable medical illnesses, it is a matter of taking medication and getting the proper counseling. To illustrate it, it would be like asking if someone's diabetes appeared because the became a JW or disappeared because they stopped being a JW.

THANK YOU for that, Blondie! So many people don't understand that.

As a whole, I think JW's are the most depressed and depressing people on Earth. But I would be depressed with or without having ever been one, it's hereditary in my case.

Which stinks because I can do all this work and leave the Borg and get a wonderful life and still battle the depression! UGH!

Course, having a neurological disease doesn't help either. Hard to know where the clinical depression ends and the brain issues caused by my other disease begin.

But Blondie is right. If you have clinical depression then it needs to be treated just like the diabetic needs insulin. I hope someday the stigma that goes with these medications, when they are truly needed, will be gone.

~essie

Do You Struggle With Depression???

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