First of all, a belated welcome to you! I haven't read others' experiences, but I'll give you one. It's not my experience, since I had trouble putting my life into another person's hands. However, I've studied my JW mother, and her reasons for becoming a JW.
My mother had a bad upbringing which included physical and sexual abuse. She got married at age 19 to an alcoholic and abuser. They had one child together. The marriage ended in divorce when my half-brother was about six years old. She hated putting him through it.
My mother re-married to another alcoholic (my father) and they had me. My mother came close to leaving my father a couple of times. My mother was also struggling with the issue of religion in her life. Then, the JWs knocked on her door, and showed her a "much better way of life". She previously had a wild side, with no sense of self-control. The JWs made her realized that control was needed in her life to make it better. However, they didn't show her that self-control could be learned. They taught her that a religious organization should control her life. She uses the JW teachings to control her life, because she cannot control herself.
She is still with my father, but I believe she would be much happier if they were apart. She continues to live her life in unhappiness because she's been taught that it is the correct path. My father has quit drinking, but has turned to gambling. They are constantly miserable toward each other, and my mother has a difficult time dealing with him. She's completely astounded at how I deal with him (and everything else in my life), and I have no religion controlling my life. She doesn't understand how I do it.
It's sad to see how my mother's past, combined with the JW religion has messed up her mind. The JWs don't teach you to deal with your past. They teach you to just leave it behind, and everything will go well as long as you keep reading the Watchtower, attending meetings, and go out in service. They also offer their perfect paradise earth where all wrongs will be corrected, and everything will be perfect and happy. My mother has bought into this, and is relying on Paradise Earth to fix everything that is wrong in her life. It's sad that she can't see her life can be fixed without this hope.
JWs teach people to block out mistakes of the past, and they do this with their doctrine as well. Because of this, my mother's memory fails her repeatedly. Also, when my memory succeeds where hers fails, she tries to convince me that my memory is failing as well. I've had arguments with her about trivial things in my childhood. I hear lots of "You don't remember that! You're making it up!" She's either astounded by my memory, or she doesn't want me to remember. She wants me to lie to myself, just as she has been taught to.