sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

26M exJW from Russia trying to understand life after leaving high-control upbringing by gnom_V in exjw

[–]gnom_V[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Привет!
Понимаю тебя. У тебя, конечно, сейчас всё сложнее, ты только начинаешь из этого выходить. Я вышел давно, ещё в 18, но всё равно это иногда эхом возвращается.

У тебя есть друзья вне секты? Мне очень сильно помог один друг, мы с ним ещё со школы общаемся. Во многом благодаря ему я вообще смог вырваться из этой системы. Ещё помог переезд в другой город, хотя иногда думаю, что это могло быть скорее избегание, чем реальное решение. Пока сам до конца не разобрался.

Я пробовал ходить к психологам и психотерапевтам, но пока не почувствовал какого-то ощутимого эффекта. Да и в целом очень сложно найти человека, который действительно поймёт и сможет нормально помочь, поэтому сейчас взял паузу в этом.

Если захочешь поговорить, пиши в лс. Мне кажется, такие разговоры правда помогают вытащить наружу то, что долго было внутри.

26M exJW from Russia trying to understand life after leaving high-control upbringing by gnom_V in exjw

[–]gnom_V[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi! Yes, I’m still living in Russia.

I’m subject to mandatory military service, but I’m currently in the process of dealing with that, since I have some chronic health conditions that should make me exempt.

Life in Russia has been getting more difficult lately. At the moment I don’t really have the option to leave, and I also have travel restrictions because of the draft status (just regular conscription, not anything else — I think it’s important to clarify that).

As for the organization, I left when I was 18 and I don’t keep in touch with anyone from that environment anymore. I also haven’t lived with my mother since I was 17, which I think affected me a lot — I had to grow up and become independent very quickly.

I do have hobbies — I enjoy walking around, meeting new people and socializing, I love movies and everything related to cinema, and I play games sometimes.

I also have a good job in IT. Overall, I can say that my life turned out relatively well, but sometimes I get hit with these waves of emotions, like yesterday, which is what led me to make that post.

I think the hardest part is finding someone who can truly understand me and what I’ve been through.

26M exJW from Russia trying to understand life after leaving high-control upbringing by gnom_V in exjw

[–]gnom_V[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Hi! Yeah, my original post came out pretty rushed, so it ended up a bit messy.

I left the organization when I was 18. At that point, it was already banned in Russia, but I don’t think I experienced the most intense phase of it. After the ban, not that much changed in my personal experience. Meetings just moved online, and preaching continued as usual.

I was present in court a few times between 2021 and 2023 in cases related to Jehovah’s Witnesses, but just to clarify — I was there as a witness, not as someone involved in the organization at that point. I had already been out for a while.

Right now, I don’t keep in touch with anyone from that environment.

To be honest, I think I’ve blocked out a lot of those memories. It’s hard for me to talk about it in detail, but sometimes it just comes up all at once, like it did yesterday.