May 2019 Broadcast

by BourneIdentity 19 Replies latest jw experiences

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  BourneIdentity

  I know I already created a post about this a week or so ago, but I have a little more to add to it.

  I was watching it again and taking some notes this time. The speaker lists these reasons for people having anxieties:

  1. Providing for our families the necessities of life
  2. Dealing with a chronic illness
  3. Caring for a sick loved one
  4. Grieving the death of a loved one
  5. Loneliness
  6. Coping with a natural disaster
  7. Past or present abuse

  His tips for us to stop being anxious are:

  1. Rely on Jehovah and take one day at a time
  2. Pour your heart out to Jehovah in earnest prayer
  3. Read and meditate on God's Word
  4. Share your feelings with a trusted friend

  One thing I don't think they realize is anxiety is no different than depression for millions of sufferers. There doesn't have to be a reason why people are depressed, it's a chemical imbalance. It’s the same for anxiety, there doesn’t need to be reasons for anxiety, it's an issue with a chemical imbalance.

  All this brother gave was spiritual advice, nothing about all the physical things that can be done to help alleviate anxiety. Some of these include:

  1. Therapy
  2. Medication
  3. Exercise
  4. Proper Diet
  5. Adequate rest and sleep
  6. Relaxation techniques

  I know these brothers aren't mental health experts, doctors, nutritionists or personal trainers, their primary and only goal is to offer spiritual advice. But millions look to them for all the answers. They don't want to turn to the world for wisdom, they assume Jehovah will provide it all through his Organization. As can be seen from this, they have failed miserably.

  When I look at all the sources of my anxiety over the years, hands down, it was all things related to the religion. The fear of The Great Tribulation and Armageddon coming at any moment, being persecuted, tortured and thrown into prison and being separated from my family by the authorities. Or less harmful things like answering at meetings, giving talks and going out in the field ministry. Once I distanced myself from all of this and faded, it was a huge weight lifted off my shoulders, hardly any more anxiety. I would assume most JWs afflicted with mental disorders would be cured within 1-2 years of leaving and letting go of all the guilt and fear the religion puts upon you.
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  HoodwinkedToo

  Words of wisdom! Than you BourneIdentity.
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  millie210

  Particularly I noticed #4 on Bournes list.

  JWs are known (at least by me) for having terrible diets.

  The leadership does nothing to educate them about how to pick a healthy diet nor does it encourage them to even consider it.
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  neat blue dog

  their primary and only goal is to offer spiritual advice

  That's on paper. Their primary goal is to placate the r&f, and cover their own asses in general.
  
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  Bigdummy

  I will weigh in with a thought or two on this thread. I am fairly old now ( near 70)

  but when I was a youngster I thought people at the door would be happy to hear

  my message. As I got older I realized they wanted me at their door about as

  much as I wished they were at mine. Most householders are courteous here in

  the southern USA so jw’s In the south get kind of a break there. Some Baptists

  worked my street a while back and we talked at least 20 minutes on my front

  porch. They were cordial not pushy, and seemed to be genuine real people.

  Some jw’s are that way. But over the years I got to experience some real crazies

  in the congregation all the way from publishers to elders. Just people I could

  not be around. I got to thinking as an adult that there was something wrong

  with me because I could see all kinds of things happening that I couldn’t

  understand. Witnesses being married three or more times ( somebody picking

  the wrong mate I guess) and one sister separated from her husband who is

  an elder and this is her fourth husband that I know of. The 1995 generation

  teaching iced it for me. I was thinking okay something is definitely wrong with

  this whole deal. At this time I was in my late 30’s and I was getting deeply de-

  pressed , agitated, mad at myself for all the years I had going along with this

  organization. Staying because I was going to live forever. Realized I didn’t

  want to live forever with this bunch. Anxiety was at level ten at all waking hrs.

  my wife is still 100% in. I go with her sometimes because she wants me to.

  I usually gaze at my IPad looking up different subjects during the meeting.

  Medication - check. Exercise - check. Healthy diet- check. Keep my distance

  from people I don’t trust- check. Fairly happy now. Oh yeah I belong to the

  local YMCA paid for by my insurance plan but I still technically signed up. There

  will probably be some major fallout when the elders realize I am part of a major

  anti Christian thuggery bunch. Actually everybody is very nice but I know that

  don’t count.
• 

  HiddenPimo

  I must say that the biggest relief to my anxiety is leaving and not going to the meetings or out in field service.

  I was on a business trip last week and being away from the cult completely as the wife is PIMI was very eye opening as I slept well and had zero issues. On my flight back I started feeling terrible and got the anxious sweats and shakes.

  I started doing yoga a few months ago and boy did it help. I also exercise everyday and try to eat healthy.

  Funny thing is that in my department at work (Engineering = Educated folks) I was the only one going thru anxiety and everyone else was enjoying life and their families. It's so sad what the cult does to you and others and we are conditioned to feel it is normal until you truly break free.

  Don't believe the hype that you can only be happy being a JW.
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  blondie

  I have to agree with the people who said their anxiety disappeared (or substantially subsided) after leaving and not going to meetings or out in field service. I felt better the first day when I left mid Saturday at a circuit assembly and never went back, and it has been over 18 years now. Still feel great Saturday and Sunday morning knowing I will not be there with all the happy sheep.
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  Spiral

  I totally agree with the comments above.

  I've never been happier since we faded away. I too also came to the conclusion that living forever with those people and their rules wasn't much of a deal.

  I enjoy yoga and meditation, which are wonderful additions to everyday life. I like my yoga peeps much more than I like most JWs. The JWs that I am still friends with struggle with anxiety every day.

  Just telling people to pray every day is so worthless. If that worked, they would all be happy.

  Jehovah's happy people are anything but happy. It's so obvious, if they weren't so guilted and brainwashed, they'd see it themselves.
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  BourneIdentity

  I can relate to your shakes HiddenPimo. I’d start getting all anxious when Friday came every week. Everyone at work was excited about the upcoming weekend, while I dreaded it due to Saturday field service. Such a crazy life and we thought recruiting people was going to improve their life!
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  jp1692

  Anxiety disorders and depression are NOT the same thing and should not be confused with each other.

  Also, it's inaccurate to say that either are caused by a chemical imbalance. As reported by Harvard Medical School: "Research suggests that depression doesn't spring from simply having too much or too little of certain brain chemicals." It's much more complicated than that.

  There are several things that are completely wrong with the WTBTS's approach to serious mental health issues. First, they should be directing people that suffer from depression, anxiety or other such mental health concerns to seek help from qualified medical professionals, not window-washers or janitors that went to a two-day seminar put on by the WT.

  Secondly, many of the emotional and mental health issues that JWs suffer from are a direct result of the beliefs and practices of the religion. As many have posted, and has oft been observed previously, leaving this religion frequently leads to an immediate reduction in anxiety and depression. However, that is not always the case because there can also be other underlying causes which again should be addressed by trained and qualified mental health professionals.