With so many "responsibilities" given to the witnesses by the "faithful and discreet slave", there is little time for them to do anything these days except sleep - and that is when they're not out preaching at unearthly hours in the morning.
The enormous pressure to perform, and to be under the watch of the elders to make sure you perform, is a draining experience.
A book I have on Sociology says this regarding Jehovah's Witnesses, when discussing sects, that "they require intensive commitments and demonstrations of belief by members. Partly owing to their "outsider status" in society, sects frequently exhibit a higher degree of religious fervor and loyalty than more established religious groups."
It is these "intensive commitments" to attend all the meetings and prestudy for them, preach at least 10 hours a month, and, if you are a brother, reaching out/or being expected to reach out, that contribute to the de-individualization of themselves.
Yes, I made the word up - but it's the best I could come up with.
De-individualization - a gradual erroding of the personality that we used to have prior to coming into contact with the JWs. If you were born in "the truth" then you probably felt like you never really developed the way you wanted to anyway, as is evidenced by the numerous experiences given here in this forum regarding growing up in the truth.
This process of personality errosion causes other problems as well. Lack of individual reasoning ability starts to diminish, as Watchtower programming takes hold.
You begin to forget your wants, your dreams, and your desires; as you devote your life to the bigwigs at Brooklyn and your congregation elders.
In my old congregation, an elder remarked that many of those present seemed to have "no personality". Hillary_Step recently posted that one circuit overseer referred to "a shiftless generation"
Why is it that Witnesses can't develop as individuals? The Society won't let them.
Consider the following:
(The sections below are not in any order, and also not everyone conforms to these. This is simply how the Society would like its members to behave and function)
1) No one must shine - Individuals are not allowed to shine, or be skillful at anything. Were you ever encouraged to use your talents (other than for WTS purposes)? Did a friend suggest going to college/university to "be something"? Likely, if they were party-line followers, they would not have done this. Did your parents let you go to college? Did they want you to succeed in a career? Or as a full time preacher?
Step 1 - errosion of individal worth, through lack of education, and lack of encouragement to get an education.
2) All must be equal - While it's true that no one wants to be less than equal, the cultural transmission in the Society is that there is generally no healthy competition among the friends. Ever watched a bunch of witnesses play sports? There are exceptions of course to what I state here, but many of the elders seem to hate competition, or winning. True, it is just a game, but discouaring healthy competition can make a person feel that they have already achieved their potential and feel that they don't have to try any harder. One sister recently said regarding a game of football, that "no one should think they're above one another."
Step 2 - all must be equal - no healthy competition of any kind.
3) No time to develop serious hobbies/interests
How many times have you heard the friends say, "I wish I had time to do this or to do that..." You realize then, how much time is taken up by the religion, and how little time they let you have. Truly, they devour our time, leaving us with little or no energy after a hard weeks work to even want to develop our hobbies and interests. Some friends never explore their potential, rather they just talk about what they'd like to do. Five meetings a week, endless personal and prestudy, and regular preaching activity, kills any time one may have for their own interests. The Society piles on the guilt to auxiliary or regular pioneer, making some of the friends feel they are not doing enough for "Jehovah,"
Step 3 - devoting your time to the Society, kills off most of the time you would have for hobbies and interests
4) No recognition
Have you ever been recognised for the time you put in the ministry? While preaching is a commandment, there is generally no recognition for a job well done. From recent reports and experiences, it seems that the elders just aren't commending the friends enough. But you don't have to be an elder to say, "Job well done." Short of having your name read out when you apply to pioneer in some way, there is little recognition for the many hours that the friends put into the ministry.
Step 4 - no recognition for hard work makes the friends feel like they're not doing enough. Therefore, a guilt trip develops.
5) No Society sponsored gatherings, festivals
Most religions have organised celebrations and festivals. This brings people together, forms friendships, and provides recreation for the kids and teens. But, the Society, with their billions of dollars, cannot even organise through the congregations, a JW Youth outreach program, or a day trip for the elderly. In my congregation, there was only ever 1 day out for the elderly in about 25 years. The only sponsored events, are of course the assemblies and conventions. Here, the Society tell you that you should not go out for lunch as you should be spending your lunch break associating with the friends. But, how many strangers came up to you at the intermission and asked about you or where you come from? How mcuh real association goes on between strangers?
Step 5 - no association means no friends, no social life, no sponsored JW Youth events, no outings or day trips for the elderly. This contributes much to loneliness, even suicide because of the lack of human interest. Any free time is usually encouraged to be spent in the ministry.
6) Don't pursue education
Some of this is covered in section 1, but the emphasis is for JW youth not to pursue a career. Hence, any thoughts that a young witness has about becoming a doctor, a nurse, an artist or any other profession is laid to waste. The Society only encourages education, for the soul purpose of supporting yourself in the "full time pioneer mininstry."
Step 6 - no encouragement to pursue a career kills off desires that you had to work in a desirable profession.
7) Lack of social skills
when you take into account all that is required of the witnesses, very little time is left to pursue anything else. This means, that some of the friends grow up socially dysfunctional, unable to hold a conversation for more than 20 seconds. After asking the usual, "how's it going, how's work", most of them leave you. Others never really listen to you and are looking for someone else to "love bomb" The constant "encouragement" the Society gives to "widen out in your association" only makes the friends feel like they are doing this to obey the Society - hence, spontaneous and genuine interest in other people is sadly lacking - even non-existent.
Step 7 - with a lack of social skills, particularly holding conversations about "off-world" topics, witnesses find it hard to be themselves, and have something interesting worth saying.
8) Lack of interest in the environment and community
Because the "end is soon", the friends are not encourged to do charitable works, to develop their people skills, or to become a more developed member of society. Hence, any thought of doing something to help the environment, volunteering in a hospital, or a soup kitchen is discourgaged, as "Jehovah will see to it."
Step 8 - This lack of interest in environment and the communities does not foster personal growth and satisfaction. The JW never thinks about the homeless man on the street and how he gets fed. The JW sees volunteers in action at hospitals, but never stops to think, "What can I do to help." Always waiting for the, "end" their desire to help others is never nurtured.
Why is personal growth and development so difficult for JW's to develop? Most of the above points are the reason for this.
If you came into the truth, ask yourself - how did the programming of the Society affect me individually. While you may have quit smoking, taking drugs and other practices, and put on the "new personality" to some extent, were you ever encouraged to be a somebody instead of a nobody?