#Religious trauma full

Similarly, depression can happen for any number of reasons in an oppressive environment and the depressed feelings only darken as the religious leaders tell the person they are “wrong”, “sick” or “influenced by Satan” when feeling sad, down, or depressed. When a congregant begins to feel anxious about messing up or disappointing the leadership, then the anxiety begins to swell and pour over into all areas of life. These can happen after any trauma, but depression and anxiety are common after significant repression of needs. There might also be a felt sense of immaturity when it comes to humor, point of view on issues, understanding world issues or events happening in the community, and ways of managing conflict.ĭepression, anxiety, or other mental health concerns. Sometimes survivors speak of feeling “really behind” their peers in school and finding themselves in adult relationships where they feel unprepared to deal with the emotional task of relating to others well. This can include sexual, social, relational, and emotional development. There are some additional symptoms that can happen after religious abuse:

Someone that has experienced religious trauma might experience symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and you can read more about that here. The impact of religious trauma can be pervasive and it’s important to get the support of a therapist if you believe that you’ve survived religious trauma. What are the symptoms of religious trauma?

Using scripture to humiliate or embarrass the members of a congregation.

The main motivation tactic in the community is guilt, shame, and fear. Leaders in positions of power coercing or forcing young members to participate in religious ceremonies and using fear of hell or punishment as a tactic for convincing. Here are some examples of things that are oppressive and potentially traumatic for members of a spiritual community:Ī religious leader creating too much fear about congregants trusting government or outside sources of authorityĬhurches requiring financial participation or sacrifice in order for people to have access to the same “blessings” from God. Religious trauma can happen from a number of different experiences within a church or spiritual community, whether it’s the messages being relentlessly taught or the interactions that one has with the leadership or people in power. When these congregations become spaces where the followers experience psychological abuse, shameful messages around their personhood or emotions, and live with a constant fear of punishment from a god figure, then the followers begin to lose a sense of autonomy, ability to ask questions or leave the community when they feel uncomfortable. Religious and spiritual experiences are meant to be, above all else, safe spaces for communing with others and connecting over a shared belief system.

#Religious trauma full

Religious environments can be intense and full of emotion. When these intense and emotional environments become coercive, overpowering, manipulating, and rigid, they become abusive and traumatic. This overwhelms our nervous systems and we are made to feel temporarily overwhelmed, which initiates our survival mechanisms of fight, flight, freeze, or fawn. Let’s first start off with defining trauma. Trauma is anything that happens “too much, too fast”.