Common Symptoms of Religious Trauma:
Experiencing deep or chronic shame that leaves you feeling like you are unworthy, unlovable, or bad in some way. Feeling bad or wrong for having sexual thoughts and feelings, OR having physical reactions to sex or sexual thoughts such as crying or feeling disconnected from your body.
Examples of Religious Trauma:
Loss of church community or family (Having to leave cause it's unsafe or hostile) Being told not hate the sin, love the sinner. Shaming being unwed, or having an abortion. Emotional, sexual or physical abuse from church leaders, family members etc, because of anti-gay beliefs.
Religious trauma is the result of different experiences that occur in a religious community, within a church, or spiritual community that exposes the members to indoctrination messages, coercion, humiliation, embarrassment, and abuse.
Signs and Symptoms of Religious Trauma
Impeded development (social, emotional, sexual, etc.) Depression, anxiety, or other mental health concerns. Poor decision-making skills. Lack of self-confidence and self-esteem.
Religious trauma can cause, contribute to, or otherwise worsen mental health disorders. Commonly associated mental illnesses include: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Breathwork, meditation, dance, yoga, and other physical exercises are all great ways to process stored trauma in the body. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) While we know that one cannot just think away trauma, reaching out to talk with a mental health counselor is always a good step in the healing journey.
Like all iterations of trauma, the development of RTS is informed by PTSD, defined in DSM V as a mental disorder that can develop after a person is exposed to a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, or other threats on a person's life.
Religious delusions are characterized by increased conviction and pervasiveness, permeating to a greater extent the individual's whole experience. Their presence is associated with more severe symptoms, higher medication dosage, and poorer prognosis.
Excessive physical punishment, guilt-tripping, or not allowing a child to question the parents' religion can all fall under religious abuse. Examples of spiritual abuse towards children by parents include: Encouraging single-minded thinking in children. Creating an “us vs them” mentality in children.
Most people are indeed entirely unaware that they are suffering from trauma at all. Many put their symptoms and negative experiences down to stress which is often vague and unhelpful, particularly when trying to get to the core of the problem.
Falling under the umbrella of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), scrupulosity — also referred to as “religious OCD” — is an obsession involving religious or moral matters. Scrupulous individuals are overly concerned that their thoughts or actions might be considered sinful or violate moral doctrine.
Do you believe you have experienced religious trauma? Around one-third (27‒33%) of U.S. adults have experienced religious trauma at some point in their life.
A person can experience spiritual trauma from religious leaders, parents, or spiritual community members. Examples of spiritual or religious abuse can include: Using beliefs to embarrass, shame, or humiliate you either publicly or privately. Financial exploitation.
Spiritual trauma occurs as a result of events that threaten and damage our core spiritual values and goals. This can be a result of either abuse by religious/spiritual figures or being raised with a toxic and overbearing interpretation of that religion or spiritual belief.
Spiritual abuse involves an experience with an abusive person, while religious trauma is the ongoing effect the experience has in the survivor's life.
Original Sin => Original Trauma
You can think of original sin as leading to the “original trauma.” The sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden had a devastating impact on our bodily life – it brought illness, physical suffering, pain in childbirth, the ravages of physical labor, and it brought us physical death.
Religious beliefs, practices, and coping may increase the prevalence of anxiety through the induction of guilt and fear. On the other hand, religious beliefs may provide solace to those who are fearful and anxious.
This may explain why religious trauma is frequently tied to obsessive, compulsive symptoms. You can imagine that someone who is constantly on guard against demonic influences, or falling into the “sins of your flesh” would live plagued by a deep anxiety. These thoughts about scary doctrine can become obsessive.
The following statistics from Pew Research Center show that Christianity, Islam, and Judaism are persecuted in more countries around the world than other religions. As of 2018: Christians face harassment in 145 countries, Muslims face harassment in 159 countries, and Jews face harassment in 91 countries.