Study suggests up to 1 in 5 U.S. adults currently suffer from major religious trauma symptoms
Study suggests up to 1 in 5 U.S. adults currently suffer from major religious trauma symptoms
Some mental health experts are advocating for religious trauma to be considered an official disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
Swift-Godzisz is among the 1 in 3 adults in the United States who have suffered from religious trauma at some point in their life, according to a 2023 study published in the Socio-Historical Examination of Religion and Ministry Journal. That same study suggests up to 1 in 5 U.S. adults currently suffer from major religious trauma symptoms.
Religious trauma occurs when an individual’s religious upbringing has lasting adverse effects on their physical, mental or emotional well-being, according to the Religious Trauma Institute. Symptoms can include guilt, shame, loss of trust and loss of meaning in life. While religious trauma hasn’t officially been classified as a mental disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), there is debate among psychiatrists about whether that should change.
Experts say LGBTQ people — who represent more than 7% of the U.S. population, according to a 2023 Gallup poll — experience religious trauma at disproportionate rates and in unique ways. Very little research has been done in this field, but a 2022 study found that LGBTQ people who experience certain forms of religious trauma are at increased risk for suicidality, substance abuse, homelessness, anxiety and depression. And as political animus toward the LGBTQ community intensifies ahead of the 2024 presidential election, many queer people say their pain is resurfacing.
At a different thread, an user expressed doubt about the idea that every single person who showed a hostile attitude towards religion online had been victimized by religion. While such a thing is impossible to prove, there are researchers currently finding out that religious abuse if far more common than the average person probably imagines. This is something that should be brought up whenever we discuss whether religion is positive or not to society, overall.
I know how I feel about it. There are many good and unique things about religion.
The good things are not unique and the unique things are not good.
I would argue anyone who has ever spent time in any kind of fundie christian church has been traumatized whether they realize it or not. The ones who break out do, the ones who didn't, don't.
an user expressed doubt about the idea that every single person who showed a hostile attitude towards religion online had been victimized by religion.
I grew up atheistic and never really had any negative experiences with religion. Nevertheless I'm rather strictly against organized religion while not opposed to individual spirituality what so ever (as long as it's not forced on other).
Modern religion seems to be overrun with people who have mental illness. Growing up, all the religious people I knew were simply the worst people. They only went to church to be better than others who didn't. Narcissism. And I met one preacher who actually preached Jesus's teachings. And of course the whole congregation hated him. The rest preached about how everyone but those in that room deserved damnation.
I'm an atheist, but saying every single person who is hostile towards religion has been traumatized by it is not a true statement. One single counter-example blows up your whole point. Arguments that say "every single person" are usually a bad idea.
How about the vast majority? Maybe, but even then, we have no numbers, this is another losing point to make. It might be true, but we don't have enough info to back this assertion up enough to change anyone's mind. It is easy for a detractors to roll their eyes at this.
The best you can hope to say without making a fallacy is that a disproptoinate number of anti-religious people have experienced religious trauma. I'd even argue the same for the extreme religious supporters too if they were receptive to the first point.
You have to meet the cognitive dissonance of others half-way or you might as well be talking to a wall. Overstating your point where it is no longer even a logical statement just hurts your own efforts.
It wasn't a statement I made, but "a sizable proportion of people hostile towards religion has been abused by it, and has perfectly legitimate reasons for their positions", which is my own position, is quite defensible.
I’ll add here, I’m not an atheist and I have religious trauma. Don’t confine yourself to those who are hostile to religion or you wind up with a narrow view of the damage done and preselect a solution.
Atheism to sufferers of religious trauma is an extremely healthy first step, and an extremely healthy final step, but it doesn’t need to be either or both.
When you introduce the concept of religious trauma, some, especially those in an abuser-victim state will look to this as an attempt to dissuade them from any religion, and it’s fine to try to do that, I personally dislike proselytization of any form, but regardless, they won’t be open to reevaluating their relationship with their beliefs, including the ones actively harming them. I don’t personally care if the victims leave religion entirely or even the general religion. If we can make people who are perpetuating the cycle of abuse through their religion reevaluate and stop that’s what I want.
There is no hate like Christian "love". When the ones who are supposed to love you are being the most cruel in your life, that fucks you up.
If Christians were remotely Christ-like, this world would be very different. Weird how the ones who cling to religion are the ones wholly incapable of living good lives.
No, there are no "good" Christians. Christ whipped and chased people out of a temple for selling stuff. Modern Christians don't even ostricize megachurches. Every single one of them are disgusting hypocrites.
I'll chime in with my life as an anecdote. I was raised very conservative Baptist in the south and those paragraphs above describe my feelings exactly. I was constantly questioning my feelings, being told that what I felt was evil and wrong. It's something I've had to struggle with my whole life. I'm much better now after years of counseling, but I still deal with feelings of guilt and fear of public judgement.
A very good friend of mine has a similar story. I also spent way too much time in an evangelical church in my 30s and have the damage to prove it.
Hits a little close to home. The threats I would receive from family over religion, and the consequences when I would try and to buck them….man bad memories lol
On the plus side, now the trauma has expanded beyond mental conditions to include physical aspects such as death of pregnant women as well!
Unfortunately "plus" here means "additionally", as it will continue to grow - now also including potential mothers and fathers who will no longer be able to use IVF due to the latest insanity. Already maternity care for wanted babies has suffered greatly.
Jesus Himself passionately hated religious hypocrites, and the Bible itself, Old and New Testaments alike, says things like "The worker deserves their wages", "Religion that is pure and true is to help those less fortunate", etc. Just like those "patriots" who stormed the USA Capitol on January 6th - citing how they were "defending the Constitution", while actually trying to overthrow it - there is no justification for this even within the very thing those very people point to as having provided their "excuse".
Might does not make Right, although... it might as well I guess, if nobody will stand up to the bullies. These things must be fought against, hard - and especially by people who identify as Christians but also by anyone who cares about the harm that is being done. e.g., states don't have to passively wait for Federal laws - we can pass local ones firming up protections for medical care right now. Congress may be non-functional these days, but there are other ways to get things done: local governments, or nonprofits. And if the "religions" want to join in, even if just offering funding, that's fantastic - but we need to do it either way, with or more likely without the majority of them.
I'll just leave this here:
https://www.recoveringfromreligion.org/
Recovering From Religion is a fantastic organization which exists to help people through this sort of thing. They've got lots of catalogued resources (podcasts, articles, videos, etc.), a 24-hour helpline, online support groups, and other helpful resources.
One of the worst things about religion is how it exists as a primary surrogate for mental healthcare for people who are seriously mentally ill.
As someone who still hasn’t come out to my ultra Christian parents, yep. I took the path that was all I knew was acceptable. Luckily my spouse is accepting and mildly excited by my sexuality but the trauma is so strong I haven’t even been comfortable to act on my sexuality because it is just so repressed. I’ve worked through so much via therapy over the years but I still find things that are as described in the article, fight or flight type responses that conflict with what my brain logically can think is right. I really hope that research gets funded for this. They will find that more than just LGBTQ+ individuals will have definitive religious trauma and maybe some day a dollar cost will also be associated with it, not because it has to be but because sometimes money is the only way to get action…sadly.
I’ll say that exposure definitely helps with this. Slowly learning to associate your queerness with the joy it can bring rather than the dread it once did has helped many people I’ve known. Good luck healing