Understanding Religious Trauma
RELIGIOUS TRAUMA is specific to people who grew up with terrifying biblical messages, corporal and other harsh punishments, manipulation by shame, guilt and fear, expectations of sexual purity, control of one’s sexual orientation and gender identity, strict obedience, and control of one’s thoughts, feelings and behaviors. All under the guise of serving some entity or authority
Exposure to any of these kinds of circumstances leads to long-lasting chronic feelings of shame, low confidence, poor self-esteem, constant anxiety, depression, relationship problems, sexual repression, and self-harming behaviors.
Leaving Toxic Religion
Leaving a toxic environment is not a simple matter. While it can feel liberating it also presents new challenges. You lived in a world that dictated how to think, feel, and behave. It had rules and answers that no longer make sense. You enter a world in which you are free to make choices and decisions about your life but you are not sure how.
Breaking away may also create conflict with or cause loss of family and friends. There may have been things that you enjoyed like the familiarity and sense of community. Now you find yourself alone and lonely. You would like to make connections but you are anxious and feel like an outsider.
You are suddenly free but you don’t feel free of feelings that keep coming up as triggers and keep your emotions stuck in the past.