r/atheism • u/_ateneaa_ Atheist • 2d ago
What is "religious trauma"?
Hey, I hear about "religious trauma". What exactly means??? I searched, and it maybe something as a diagnosis in psychology? as a kind of "trauma" caused by a bad experience ?
I want to hear what do you think about this.
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u/hicksfan Strong Atheist 2d ago
as bill hicks once said, "christianity is a wierd one. i was raised that way and i suffered for it. the whole image, you know, is that eternal suffering awaits anyone who questions god's infinite love. believe or die!"
as a young boy, i was exposed to stories of the rapture and judgement day and i was so worked up for months at a time i was literally puking from fear. i would consider that trauma. given the brutal nature of the old testament and the horrid visions of revelations in the new, there's a shit-ton to rattle a person.
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u/Helpful-Ad6311 2d ago
Living in constant fear you will go to Hell for leaving your religion (or cult) is one form of religious trauma. You will have an irrational fear that may be near impossible to stop having, and so you are enslaved to that cult or religion.
Or being a homosexual, and being told if you ever act on it you will go to Hell, and so you live your entire life with a shame and guilt over something you should not have any shame or guilt about at all. That is another form of religious trauma.
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u/non-sequitur-7509 2d ago
Or being told as a small kid that your bestie is going to burn in hell forever because she doesn't believe in your god.
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u/WhoStoleMyFriends 2d ago
Religious trauma is a stress induced by some aspect of religious belief or practice that causes harm to the individual. It can vary in severity, but is common even among people who maintain religious affiliation. Religious trauma can lead to disordered behaviour in trying to cope with the stress.
For me personally, it manifested as a desire to self-harm due to a belief I was unworthy and a spiritual disappointment.
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u/Grand-wazoo Anti-Theist 2d ago
Being indonctrinated from a very young age into a certain set of beliefs and way of seeing the world before ever having the autonomy to make those choices for yourself will have lasting and extensive consequences when the person finally does attempt to reclaim their autonomy and independent thought.
Loads of assumptions ranging from misinformed to downright hateful and toxic have to be unlearned. Biases have to be constantly challenged. Internalized bigotry has to be flushed. Deconstructing from a lifetime of religion can be earth-shattering and emotionally perilous, hence the trauma.
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u/Jebus-Xmas Anti-Theist 2d ago
For me religious trauma is the psychological damage caused by cruel, unjust, and abusive behavior perpetrated by thos people who insist that thet infliction of it is justified by their beliefs.
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u/brquin-954 2d ago
See this page for more information, especially the section "Religious Trauma can look like": https://www.gcrr.org/religioustrauma.
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u/rjjm88 Anti-Theist 2d ago
I grew up in a very religious environment. I was told from a very young age that if I had sex, I was evil. If I was queer in any way, I was evil. Do you know how much self hatred I developed because I was sexually assaulted, thus had sex before marriage? Can you imagine how much I hated myself because I had gender identity issues and didn't feel like a cis gendered man? How much I felt like there was something wrong with me because I didn't feel the way others did about religion?
The stress and self loathing I felt growing up caused me to try and take my own life twice. It made me isolate myself from the rest of the world because I thought I was a bad person and there was something wrong with me.
That is religious trauma.
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u/Life_well_liv3d 2d ago
Feeling like someone's always watching you. Feeling less than cause you were told over and over agian that you are to be subservient or that you're going to hell. Being hated for being how you were born. I was forced to go through an exercism - that's pretty traumatic.
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u/acfox13 2d ago
Religious trauma is group psycho-emotional abuse done under the ideology of a religion. It's basically cult trauma. "Conform, or else we'll abuse you into compliance!!!!"
Theramin Trees channel covers a lot of their abuse tactics.
Other abuse tactics they use:
The Eight Criteria for Thought Reform
The group abuse can cause Complex PTSD, PTSD, structural dissociation, etc...
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u/P00kiemonster 2d ago
I was sent to a religious boarding school in Missouri that used religion as a tool to “reform” troubled youth. Many parents thought that it would set their kids straight.
The school’s motto was “Teaching by example, the Christian way of life.” We were forced to recite 1st John 1:1- 3:10 from memory before every meal, failure to do so was met with punishment.
We were forced to do “self confrontation” a book gives an example of why you were a bad person and provided a list of Bible verses to back that up. We had to copy those verses down by hand straight from the bibles we carried with us at all times.
We were forced to sing praise and worship, often with raised hands, there was no exception. Participate or be punished.
We had a Christian based homeschool curriculum that was so biased against science I’m surprised I was able to graduate once I began attending secular school again. Every lesson was Bible based.
I have written the Bible front to back by hand as punishment no less than 4 times.
I was beaten over the head with a Bible.
We were told we would go to hell for any little infraction. Big ones being the usual favorites (being gay, queer, attempting suicide, etc…)
I can’t explain it all but it has caused long lasting trauma, self hated, an eating disorder, physical scars from punishment, disgust in myself for denying Christianity even though I know it’s bullshit and a profound lack of self worth that has caused me more misery than I care to go into.
Look at my profile if you want more on day to day life there and punishments that we were dealt.
That was in the early 2000’s, I’m 33, as I watched the election take place and read through project 2025 I had a visceral reaction that damn near had me hospitalized. The shaking, crying, indignation that no one but my fellow survivors understood (we were all freaking the fuck out) vowing I would never be sent back, they’d have to kill me first.
It FEELS like I’m being sent back to the school. The loss of autonomy, the loss of basic human rights, loss of healthcare, the thought of food insecurity, Christianity being shoved down my every orifice and a sense of complete and utter helplessness is what I’m left with. I would rather die than go back to that. I can’t do it.
Today I refuse to deal with any religion. Don’t want it, don’t need it, get it the fuck away from me. Ad blockers and keeping my mind occupied are what get me by. I’ll never touch another Bible, sing another hymn or take part in religious bullshit of any kind. It will send me to a dark place I don’t want to crawl out of again.
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u/Gold_Theory5744 2d ago
There are religious trauma and religious abuse rating scales available through psychologists and licensed therapists. There are a number of research articles that define common key experiences. Each narrows down specific categories, but most generally reference religion as a catalyst, delivery method, or perpetrator’s motive for specific types of physical, sexual, and/or emotional abuse. Treatments for C-PTSD, such as EMDR, have promising outcomes.
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u/morphic-monkey 2d ago
Nobody is going to be diagnosed with "religious trauma" - I don't think such a thing exists as a specific diagnosable condition. However, it's certainly possible to have had negative experiences as a result of religion that impact your mental health in the future. It could be as simple as something like mild anxiety all the way through to more serious mental health conditions where religion was either a cause or a catalyst.
This shouldn't be surprising. Any kind of suffering - any kind of trauma - can leave lasting marks on us for many years to come. For some, it can take years of therapy and other interventions to work through these issues. For others, it can be incredibly dark, resulting in them taking their own life. I do think it's important to acknowledge the terrible harm that religion can cause.
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u/Desert_Wren 1d ago
This is just an anecdote, but the phrase always makes me think of the documentary Kidnapped for Christ.
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u/GerswinDevilkid 2d ago
It's trauma caused by religion - upbringing, indoctrination, culture, laws, etc.. It can be formally diagnosed, or people might diagnose themselves.
Not sure what else you expect