by Simple Minds 23 Replies latest watchtower medical
I am on a pension, so I could not afford to pay for a psychologist, but my good doctor referred me to a free clinic for people on a low income, for my anxiety and depression, so I have finally got my first appointment with a psychologist since I started my fade, so where do I start trying to explain the mental trauma I feel as a fading jw? I would appreciate your advice
Simple
I`m certainly not qualified to give you any professional advice , hopefully someone more experienced in this field will be able to offer that kind of help for you.
My personal lay mans suggestion would be : Just be your normal self in expressing how you feel , what is troubling you , and how it makes you feel as a person.What your fears are and how this affects your marriage and relationship with your wife .
Your psychologist is just another human being like yourself , don`t be intimidated by his /her profession .Their there to help you .Just be your natural self when discussing your situation.
Sometimes just pouring out your heartfelt feelings to someone can be therapeutic for you .
I feel for you Bro.Take care and don`t stress out about your appointment.
And let us know how you are doing when you are able to .
I hope I have been of some help
smiddy
Tell them you left a cult, and are probably suffering from Compound PTSD.
That would be a good starting point.
Good luck,
JK
Thanks for the advice guys
after being a jw for 25 years and keeping my true thoughts and feeling all bottled up and putting on the fake kingdom smile for so long i feel that my brain will explode when i finally let it all out. i feel sorry for the poor psych
simple
A lot depends on the Psychologist's personality, personal experience, and capacity.
They are human and vary greatly.
Rather than guessing it is better to meet the Psychologist at least once and decide how you feel about them.
A Psychologist with personal experience of leaving a cult and experiencing PTSD could be a big help.
Not sure if you have the ability to do it but perhaps along with your meets with a psychologist, maybe do a search for group support were you can meet with people who have been in similar situations. It's a nice forum to just let it all out and get advise from others.
The wife and I do this and it's been helpful.😀
Emphasise that you have been in a high control cult and not just a religion otherwise they might think this is about loss of faith. Explain that every aspect of your life was controlled from what you wear, how you have your hair, where you can work, to medical treatment, to how you raise your kids, to holidays, to education and even your sex life.
That your obedience was policed and even reproved under threat of disfellowshipping. That you were not allowed to deviate from the doctrine one iota and a casual conversation with a fellow believer about a single doubt could land you in front of a JC. Hope that helps.
so where do I start trying to explain the mental trauma I feel as a fading jw? - SM
We each leave for different reasons that are personal to our circumstances, but we wake up because we realise WT is feeding us nonsense. What was it that started you doubting?
For me it was the mishandling of domestic violence in my family, then I realised it is spread throughout the whole of WT and others had suffered the same.
If you would like to listen to my youtube and hear the recording of my last JC let me know and I will put up a link
Kate xx
Honestly open up....express yourself and have no fear of their not understanding. You aren't the first cult survivor to come out of the prison and human psychological responses are not reserved for fading dubs.
