I am not entirely sure whether I suffered from panic attacks whilst a JW but I know through my teenage years I suffered a great deal with depression; especially my mid teens.
I remember however at a circuit overseers visit he got up on the platform outside of his normal schedule, the speaker introduced him as needing to have a word with us all about some serious developments; the circuit overseer (I forget his name but he was some baldheaded young slimeball) got up and announced that the UN (ironic now thinking about it) had taken measures to ban all religion and that within a week the witnessing work would be banned in the UK. You could cut the atmosphere with a knive; he went on for another 20 minutes, I forget what about but no doubt building more panic and bewilderment into the scenario.
When he finally said that of course this was a hypothetical (dishonest?) situation everyone gave a sigh of relief and he reinforced that we should be doing more blah blah blah. In my view he was a sadistic prick and enjoyed the power trip he was on but I wont ever forget that day; it was like the beginning of the end. People came to me later and comment on his talk but couldnt understand why I said I didnt enjoy it at all and thought it was sick.
Typically everyone was out in the ministry effort while he was down and for a good long while afterwards too...I bet profits on sales rose slightly for the circuit as a result.
After leaving however I would have mini panics for different reasons; such as when I heard about major earthquakes or a new war which was being started etc etc. Its only when you start to become mentally free that you realise that these are implanted mental triggers which as highlighted above, produce the required reaction; panic, urgency etc. It was a battle of wills for many years between my cult mindset and that of my rational and educated mind.
DB74
