Religious Trauma Syndrome Quiz
Do you consider your religious or church experiences to be a possible cause of your trauma symptoms?
Do you find yourself asking questions like:
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Do I suffer from religious trauma?
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Have teachings from my Church traumatized me?
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Was/Is my religion pressuring me to do things I don't want to do?
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Was my church/religious organization toxic?
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Has purity culture damaged my sexual relationship?
Religious Trauma Syndrome and Faith Transitions
Religious Trauma Syndrome (RTS) is group of symptoms that are brought on by upsetting or stressful religious experiences. RTS is a typical experience shared by people who have fled cults, fundamentalist religious groups, oppressive religious environments, or other traumatic religious experiences. Complex PTSD symptoms and Religious Trauma Syndrome have many of the same symptoms.
You may be a suffering from religious trauma if you have;
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Confusing thoughts and reduced ability to think critically
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Negative beliefs about self, others, and the world
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Trouble making decisions
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Feelings of depression, anxiety, grief, anger, lethargy
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A sense of feeling lost, directionless, and alone
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A lack of pleasure or interest in things you used to enjoy
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A loss of a community (family, friends, romantic relationships)
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Feeling isolated or a sense that you don’t belong
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Feeling “behind the times” with cultural happenings
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And many other symptoms of PTSD including nightmares, flashbacks, dissociation, emotional difficulty, etc.
Here’s a free religious trauma syndrome quiz to quickly assess whether your trauma symptoms are related to an overwhelming or hurtful religious environment.
Deciding to abandon your faith is a really challenging journey. Although it may feel liberating, it might also leave you feeling uncertain, depressed, guilty, furious, etc. When you've spent the majority of your life as a member of a religious community (such as a church, a synagogue, or a community), quitting is more than just a life change; it's a choice that upends everything you've ever believed about yourself. You might lose close friends, relatives, and neighbors. It might resemble starting afresh in many ways. People who are leaving their faith frequently experience overwhelming feelings and lack of direction. Many of these perplexing emotions can be clarified with therapy.
Perhaps you're unsure of how your shifting identity fits into your religious group. Your sexual, gender and racial identity may all have an impact on how you live out your faith. It can be challenging to communicate these changes to your religious group as you develop, change, and gain a deeper awareness of who you are. Making a decision on how to move forward is scary. Therapy for religious trauma can improve your decision-making, let go of religious guilt, and start healing from religious trauma.
If you find yourself overwhelmed in the aftermath of religious trauma, I can help. Schedule a free 15-minute consultation with me today.
