Posts by Truth2Me

20

Depression and That Fading Away Feeling

by Swan in

when you get depressed, do you ever have the feeling that you are fading away?

let me describe what i have been experiencing now and in the past.

i feel so depressed that i feel like i'm not really here in the present.

Truth2Me

(((((((Swan)))))))

What you're experiencing is a normal, it's call Disassociation, and it's often a symptom of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder)

I experience this feeling too, that you have discribed, usually when I''m in deep thought/ pondering things that are too much to process, and so feel like I zone out....like I'm not really there.

I learned about this from a support group I attended that dealt with PTSD and learning that there was a name for how I felt and that it was a "normal" part of the healing process was a relief!

Truth

39

Did you really believe?

by barbar in

i am interested to know whether jw's or ex jw's on this board really did believe 100%.

did you have doubts all of the time, did you have some confusion or did you never doubt at all?

i recognise that most on this board will have had doubts at the end but was this always the case when you were a good dub?

Truth2Me

Yes, I really did believe it, but occaisonally there would be things would strike me as "that's not right"....but it took a few years for that to sink in.

It was the Truth2Me.

31

Hi

by Mystery in

first i want to thank robyn for answering my email regarding the forum.

i was having (technical) problems becomeing a member.

someone on "meet-up" posted the site and i have not been able to stop logging on to it.

Welcome Mystery aka Deborah =) What's great about an online forum like this, is that it's hear for you whenever you need it.....and when you need to process and just take time to think through your pain, you can. When you need to connect and know you're not alone, you can. When you're in terrible pain and feel like no one in the world can understand, you can reach out and know that the folks here will be there for you. This forum had made me laugh, cry, sigh, and think.....a healthy mix at just the right time to help the healing work through ones battered soul. Welcome, and much healing and peace to you =) Truth2Me

6

Support Group

by Dawn in

jw
friends

i have been attending a church in our area for about 2 years now - i really like it.

they are looking at ideas for outreach ministry and i think i'm going to approach the pastor about offering a support group for x-jw and mormons (or even those that are still in but want to come....heck....guess i could let them in .

so my question for ya'll is - what type of support group would you feel most comfortable in?

Truth2Me

Hi Dawn, having attended a support group in my area that addresses the psychological, emotional, and spiritaul abuse that we've been through I have a few suggestions. The group I have gone to has people from all different high-control groups, as the abuse we've all suffered is very minilar no matter what group we're from. Reading "Out of the Cults and Into the Church" by Janis Hutchinson is a good start....her book is wonderful. It's actually designed for folks who want to understand and help those who were in a cult/high control group, but I got a ton out of this book from the perspective of a person having come out of a group. Her book has folks from different groups in it, and several were mormans. There are no ex-JWs in that book, but that didn't matter to me, I could not believe how much the healing process, and the "understanding what has happened to me" process is the same no matter what group we were a part of. Also, there is a website for the New England Institute for Religious Research. I think it's www.NEIRR.org They explain the basic similarities of high-control groups, how they manipulate people and how the recovery process works. The folks who run the institute run the support group I went to as mentioned above. They've worked with people from all kinds of groups, JWs included. I wish you the best in your endevors, I hope you're outreach helps some battered souls to find some peace and healing. Truth2Me

22

She

by joannadandy in

her employer genuinely likes her.

she is hardworking and does what she says.

shes never raised a ruckus and always smiles at everyone.

Truth2Me

WOW

That was amazing, so powerful, you're very talented. I enjoyed that immensly.....really struck a cord with me....if I were not at work I probably would be crying right now.

that's the truth 2 me.

13

Did anyone here actually enjoy meetings?

by berylblue in

jw
friends

i always found them to be painfully boring at best.

speaking of meetings, i was in a congregation where people openly admitted that the -only- reason they went was to see who brother cassanova-wanna-be (you know, the total geek who, in the world, wouldn't be able to pay a prostitute to go out with him, but in the truth, was considered a "catch" by virtue of having a penis) was going to hit on that week.

this brother routinely preyed upon women, leading them on, in some cases, rather cruelly.

Truth2Me

Well, seems I was a oddball because I loved the meetings & I loved going out in service and informal Witnessing....I never wanted to go home. For over a year I never missed one meeting....if I was away visiting a family member, I would attend the local KH there....and I was the only Witness in my family. I was very lonely, and I thrived on the attention, but since I was D'fd I've hardly attended.

I think I really enjoyed the whole JW experience because I truly believed it, and the meetings were something I looked forward to. Conventions and Assemblies were even more exciting.

I enjoyed everything about the meetings....seeing my friends and spiritual family....getting to dress-up....giving talks...hearing talks....learning stuff..commenting...everything.....okay except for cleaning the hall....that was the one priviledge that I didn't enjoy....but I did enjoy everything else.

On the occaisonal visits to the KH that I have made in recent years, it's a different experience, 'cause I'm D'fd and the local cong here doesn't know me. They see my sportcar in the parking lot and they immediately know I'm an outsider...but still they've been kind to me, so if I feel like I want to go....I can.

Truth2Me

4

Bridgewater, Massachusetts

by RAYZORBLADE in

i'm going out on a limb here.

i have been racking my brain as of late, trying to remember names and faces of long ago.

no, i did not attend any congregation in massachusetts, ever.

Truth2Me

I wish I could help you, I use to live in Bridgewater, MA.....but that was after I was Df'd and I never went to meetings when I lived in Bridgewater.

5

JW's ban BACON and SAUSAGE

by Beans in

because of the folowing scripture (lev 3:17) the jehovahs witnesses have decided to take the other part of this scripture with sincere regard as they have the blood issue.

and from now on jehovahs witnesses will be disfellowshopped for partaking any blood or blood by product and bacon, sausage and any meat containing fat!

the governing body has decided that it is in good faith to regard the whole scripture in stead of half of it!

Truth2Me

Well.....guess I can't get reinstated...'cause I love bacon!!!!!

Seriously though Beans, are you kidding? I dought the WTS would really enforce that. But, then again....it sure would bring about a more healthy diet.

12

My Mother is a JW, I have ?'s

by kittycuddler in

jw
friends

i am 35 years old and my mother has been a jw for the last 4 years.

i was raised as a catholic by my mother and now it is hard to understand her new religion.

i have 3 older sisters we all live several miles away from eachother so it is hard to get together at times.

Truth2Me

Hi kittycuddler, welcome to the forum

I became a Witness as a young adult, and I was the only Witness in my family. I was told it was okay to visit with my family on holidays (which were almost the only time my family would get together) as long as I did not participate in gift-giving or other tradition particular to that holiday that had a known pagan origen, but it was up to my conscience, and no one from my congregation had a problem with my associating with family on holidays.

My family knew about my beliefs though they did not share them, and for the most part they respected my beliefs. Family members who felt the need to still send a card or give a gift would do so either before or after holiday, and if they sent a card it was non-holiday-related.

Maybe your mom doesn't feel her conscience can permit her to attend get togethers on holidays. Or maybe someone from her congregation encouraged her not to attend.

70

WHERE DID ALL THAT WATER GO?

by MYOHNSEPH in

as i recall, "the society" at one time taught the flood waters of noah's day came from an immense canopy of water, which formed sometime during creation and hovered above the earth until it all broke loose in the flood.

o.k., cool.

but does anyone know of an explanation of where it all went afterwards?

Truth2Me

I remember reading and or hearing from a mainstream Christian source that a possible contributing factor to the vast amounts of water during the flood of Noah's day could have been from oceanic plate movements in addition to the water canopy concept. There are huge oceanic pits that go down for over a mile deep where the techtonic plates meet in some places....one theory was that if the plates moved closer together, causing the ocean pits to close, the water contained therein would have been forced upward, causing the sea to rise......in stands to reason that the opposite would also be true, that if the plates moved apart, and a ocean pit was created, the water level would fall if the pit was over a mile deep.

Unfortunately I came across that info a long time ago, I don't recall the source, but I've found sites online about creation and the flood etc, so more info is out there.