The Online "Outlet" For JW's

by alias 6 Replies latest watchtower medical

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  alias

  Saw this quote in a magazine today from a MIT professor on the beneifts of children having online lives.

  Parent's need to recognize that otherwise these kids would be alone. Online communities provide ample spaces to explore identity, be happy or sad, get mad, act out. This is the work of adolescence.

  I couldn't help but thinking how similiarly true this is for inactive, X, and questioning JW's to be part of online communities such as this one. So many have benefitted from this virtual gathering.

  The quote could very well read:

  We need to recognize that otherwise these people would be alone. Online communities provide ample spaces to explore identity, be happy or sad, get mad, act out.

  Just thought I'd share. :)

  alia
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  RedhorseWoman

  Thanks, Alias. I think this is very true. The only people who can really understand the whole dynamic of having been a JW are those who were also JWs.
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  Prisca

  I fully agree.

  When I first went online I still believed it was the Truth, although I had many questions and doubts. The Net helped me during the different stages I went thru as I learnt the real "Truth". I have made many friends along the way, replacing those that stopped associating with me because I chose to follow my conscience, rather than a man-made religion. I have found people with fellow feeling, who know what it is like on this side of the fence. It really helps to discuss things with those who have been there, seen this, done that.

  Thanks, everyone.
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  thinkers wife

  Thanks for sharing Alia. Very fitting words indeed.
  TW
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  happytobefree

  :When I first went online I still believed it was the Truth, although I had many questions and doubts.:

  I would have to agree 100% with Prisca. I had not attended a meeting in 6 mos. and knew that I did not want to ever return. But I was so overwhelmed with guilt of not doing the right things (ie. field service, reading wt. crap, attending meetings, associating with JW), that I found myself severly depressed and in a psychiatric hospital under a suicide watch. It seemed nothing was working (therapy, medication, activities, reading WT crap, listening to Kingdom melodies) to help me get over the overwhelming desire to end my life (and I REALLY have a wonderful life). Anyway to make a loooonnng story short. I went into a chat room on AOL Disfellowshipped JW's (was very afraid), started chatting with a person name Life Value (never a witness, so I viewed her not an apostate, lol). She emailed me some incredible emails that had links to "Risky" JW site. And from there my life has change dramatically. Everything that I knew was not true about the Org. was validated. Every article they scanned, I looked up myself in the bound volumes of the Wathtower and Awake (my father's has every printed watchtower, they use to give you these blue binders, before the bound volumes and cd rolm). And to see these TRUTHS in black and white was like a ton of bricks unloaded from my mind.

  My last hospital visit was April of 2000 (a 2 week stay), I found the internet the day I was released. My meds was cut in half in May 2000, therapy was discontinued in October 2000 and I was released from disability in November 2000. And also I have not taken one anti-depressant or sleeping pill since Oct. 2000 (took myself off).

  I know this story is long, but my point is - I know the INTERNET is the only reason I have my life back, my family back, my dog back, my friends back. And I'm not discounting therapy or medication, because they were integral components to my survival and recovery. But with the WTBS crap clear out of my mind, I can actually understand what the therapists have been trying to show me.

  Thanks for letting me share a portion of a long saga of my life. (you may be bored as hell, but I feel great).

  Happy to be Free (Me)
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  waiting

  Naaaaaaaaa, drugs are always interesting.......

  Glad you've been able to get a perspective on your life that gives you your happiness back. That's rarer than you might believe.

  Some of us have/had a much harder time dislodging ourselves from the foot of the WTBTS than others. Guess we're all making the trip, but at different speeds.

  One man interestingly said that after leaving decades ago - when he talks about different WTBTS issues - emotions he thought he had dealt with a long time ago still comes forth, to be reworked, then put to rest for another time.

  I think it's that way with all of us. Glad to hear about your journey - sorry it was so tough on you.

  waiting
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  RedhorseWoman

  Happy,

  I found that when I was in therapy I could be helped with the general issues. However, most therapists are not skilled in cult issues, and many things remain unresolved.

  I had been "out" for many years when I got on the internet. I found JW sites while helping my nephew look for ex-Mormon sites (poor kid was double-culted).

  I thought that I had things pretty much resolved as far as the WTBTS was concerned, but when I started reading posts on the first DB I went to, I found myself sobbing in relief. Someone finally understood. I wasn't alone.

  Therapy and medication are very valuable components in anyone's recovery, but sharing common experiences is also very necessary.