The Ten Symptoms of RTD

The following is taken verbatim from the therapist.com website:

The effects of religious trauma can be life-altering and long-lasting. Common signs and symptoms include: 

1. Self-hatred 

Some religious movements rest on the idea that some people are inherently evil, untrustworthy, or unworthy of love. Others elevate certain identities over others, leading to marginalization, discrimination, and oppression. This may result in low self-esteem, depression, self-harm or suicidal tendencies. 

2. Shame 

Shame occurs when you equate a negative action with who you are as a person. Many unhealthy religious communities use shame as a way to influence and control others. Instead of learning to accept responsibility for their mistakes and extending forgiveness to themselves and others, people in shame-based religions often learn to cover up or deny anything that could be considered wrong by their community. 

3. Perfectionism 

Some religious communities may identify certain actions or behaviors as indicative of a person’s moral value, and they may promote certain careers or types of families as spiritually superior. This can result in perfectionism, which is often accompanied by high levels of anxiety and stress, as well as the setting of unrealistic goals. 

4. Hypervigilance 

Some religions paint a picture of a vindictive god who punishes people whenever they fall short. Others promote apocalyptic ideas and suggest that a violent end to the world is nigh. These ideas may lead to heightened levels of anxiety resulting in hypervigilance: a constant state of anxiety meant to protect a person from perceived or actual threats of harm. 

5. Difficulty with making decisions 

Many who experience religious trauma are accustomed to making decisions in the context of a certain doctrine and/or hierarchy. If they choose to change their relationship with these institutions or leave them entirely, they may struggle with autonomy and making their own decisions. 

6. Loss of community 

For many, religion provides community. If a person changes or leaves their faith, they may lose contact with many friends, family members, and acquaintances.  

Some people who leave their religious community may experience a season of loneliness and isolation. It can be intimidating to rebuild a community, especially if people outside their faith were often labeled evil or inferior. 

7. Lack of boundaries 

Being part of a religious community often means accepting some amount of feedback regarding how you live your life. Many faith communities also have expectations for volunteering and service.  

These can be considered healthy aspects of religion, as long as boundaries are clear and respected. When boundaries are blurred or nonexistent, a person may struggle to find their identity without input from others. They may also have a hard time saying no to certain tasks or prioritizing self-care. 

8. Delayed social milestones 

Purity culture is a religious concept that focuses on ideas about gender, sexuality, sex, virginity, marriage, and procreation. Religions that rely heavily on purity culture may scrutinize or monitor children’s social interactions and segregate kids based on their assigned sex. In these contexts, LGBTQIA+ people in particular may not have the chance to experience social milestones, such as first dates or kisses, until adulthood. This delay can be frustrating, and some people who had overly restricted lives as teenagers may make impulsive or reckless decisions as adults once they leave their religious communities. 

9. Sexual dysfunction 

Religions that overemphasize purity culture may not prepare their followers for healthy sex lives, even in the context of marriage.  

Many people who struggle with religious trauma practice abstinence until marriage and may feel dirty or guilty when engaging in sex. People from religious backgrounds that preach traditional gender roles may struggle to confront realities about desire, drive, and performance that don’t align with what they learned. Some religions teach about sex in a way that centers obligation instead of consent, resulting in unhealthy, harmful, or even criminal sexual behaviors. 

10. Mental health disorders 

Religious trauma can cause, contribute to, or otherwise worsen mental health disorders. Commonly associated mental illnesses include:

            • Posttraumatic stress disorder

            • Depression and anxiety

            • Obsessive-compulsive disorder/ eating disorders

            • Addiction

             

That’s a long list and a lot of work ahead. At the same time, the Website acknowledges that there can be positive benefits to organized religion.

Is religion necessarily traumatic? 

Religion is not always traumatic. It can also bring: 

• A sense of community and belonging 

• Reflective practices that encourage rest and meditation

• Love and support for those who are marginalized, grieving or struggling

• Emphasis on moral values, such as love, compassion, forgiveness and empathy

To maximize the benefits and minimize the harm will take hyper-vigilance to refuse the inherited ancestral trauma of a few thousand years, the courage to hold each other’s feet to the fire, the inner work of healing, both individually and collectively. Refusing organized religion altogether is a viable option, but that also requires other ways to gather in community, to engage in individual and collective meditation, to offer support for those suffering (all of us) and to guide each other toward our better selves. 

My personal suggestion is replace religion with spirituality, an anthropomorphized “true” God with a Divine Spirit present in all of us and plants and animals as well, to experience such Divine Grace directly through music, meditation, nature, without dogma, without blind faith, without the urge to convert others. Simply be present, attend, awaken.