Former poster Blair Watson’s name came up on saucie’s thread here:

https://www.exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,2130254,2130254#msg-2130254


Blair sadly passed away suddenly and unexpectedly a few years ago at the young age of 50.

I am reminded of the articles, RfM posts and a book that Blair wrote and how full of information they are about Mormonism and cults.

In this online article he discusses “the psychological effects of Mormonism” and “how Mormonism affects self-esteem”. I thought it would be of great help to many people:

http://www.blairwatsontribute.net/Psychological/Effects_of_Mormonism.html


If you search for Blair’s name online you will see the book he wrote (offered free of charge) and more articles. I know some of his writing is archived on RfM but I couldn’t find it at the moment. (Haven’t yet navigated well the updated pages). But it's worth taking a look. It's amazing how one small piece of information or a thought here or there can increase one's understanding and help change perspectives and answer nagging questions, leading to another step in healing.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/30/2018 03:24PM by Nightingale.

Thanks for posting that, Nightingale. We need to do that periodically for new board members. Blair's work represents a very important contribution to the exmo realm.

What's a self-esteem? Haha jk kind of.

That was a very thoughtful thing to do Nighty.... thanks for

sharing that for the people who may never have seen it.

Thanks, saucie, for your thread that prompted my thoughts. I still feel so bad for Blair. I didn't know him well but he made an impact. He was a good writer and eager to share his knowledge to help others. I regret that he didn't get to live a good few more decades.

I met him at the first conference I attended. He and my husband and I hang out together with two other exmos during the weekend. I stayed in touch with him until he sadly died much to my dismay. I recommend and appreciate his work. It's helped many exmos for many years.

Bless Blair. He was a fine gentleman.

I have a Word file of that, glad to share it with anyone via email.

The LDS suggests their decisions & advise is the be-all, end-all of "righteous living", but when things go wrong even living as they teach, they accept NO Responsibility

Paying for your own antidepressants is a Gospel Blessing.

I listened to his talk at the ExMormon Foundation Conference--Lord Jellohim alone knows how many times.

The whole experience of being in Mormonism and then leaving was hard on my self-esteem and sense of self. Blair's talk, and others' insights, were very helpful in developing an emotional awareness about these things.

His stories about punching the wall, or taking a #9 iron out to beat the ground were entertaining. I didn't do anything like that, but I knew where the feeling came from.

Thanks for posting the link. I shared in on FB with the hope that some TBM family members might read it.

This is the stuff that drove me from the church. I couldn't go on hating myself. Luckily, I figured out it was because of the institution that insisted it would make my life wonderful if only I would submit to more of its abuse.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for posting this, Nightingale!

This was one of the very first articles I read on RFM, and it set me down the right path! I had felt "inferior" all my life, even though I had always tried to do the right thing, was honest, kind, obedient, graduated BYU, got married in the temple and had children, etc. Nothing could take away that horrible feeling of being a failure in life!

I had no idea where the low self-esteem came from, until I read Blair Watson. I realized that there were other people who felt just like I did! I love the people on RFM--you understand!

I have archived this.

I remember when he died, and the others. I was posting under another name back then. I have to change my moniker, from time to time, to avoid a Mormon stalker.

Yes, as olderelder says, it is abuse!