A traumatic event may leave you with an extreme sense of powerlessness. From February to March 2020, the period when cases of COVID-19 dramatically surged, Google searches for the term prayer increased 50% in 95 countries across the globe (Bentzen, 2020; see Figure 1). MeSH Best Films About Religious Trauma - BuzzFeed Power J, Jones TW, Jones T, Despott N, Pallotta-Chiarolli M, Anderson J. Med J Aust. What exactly is religious trauma syndrome? Eds. One student put it this way: I had a lot of rash emotions coming into this experience. International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 25, 42-56. 459-476). In fundamentalist Christianity, the individual is considered depraved and in need of salvation. Religious/spiritual struggles are defined as tensions, strains, and conflicts in relation to what people hold sacred (Exline, 2013; Pargament, Murray-Swank, Magyar, and Ano, 2005). the ways people across diverse cultures and religious traditions experience and express their religious/spiritual struggles, longer-term changes that follow religious/spiritual struggles, and. Psychology Today 2023 Sussex Publishers, LLC, Source: Mohamed Nohassi/Unsplash, Creative Commons. 4) Issues in defining religious trauma; 5) Causes and triggers of religious trauma; 6) Physical, psychological, interpersonal, and emotional manifestations of religious trauma; and, 7) Effective and ineffective treatments for religious trauma. The RTS label provides a name and description that affected people often recognize immediately. The book, Healthy Religion, describes these traits. This paper briefly highlights some of this new knowledge (for an extensive review, see Pargament and Exline, in press). Many survivors contend with feelings of low self-esteem, problems with intimacy, anxiety, depression, addictions, and problems managing and expressing feelings in healthy ways. National Library of Medicine These include an accepting attitude toward religious/spiritual struggles (Dworsky, Pargament, Wong, and Exline, 2016), reframing religious/spiritual struggles as an opportunity for positive change (Saritoprak and Exline, in press), finding a sense of meaning through religious/spiritual struggles (Wilt et al., 2016), drawing on religious/spiritual coping resources (Wilt et al., 2019), and having a sense of ultimate hope (Abu Raiya et al., 2016). Abu-Raiya, H., Pargament, K. I., and Krause, N. (2016). . Or consider this comment, which refers to a film used by evangelicals to warn about the horrors of the end times for nonbelievers. When the British Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Psychologists published a series of articles on the topic, members of a Christian counseling association protested what they called excessive attention to a relatively niche topic. One commenter said, A religion, faith or book cannot be abuse but the people interpreting can make anything abusive.. It can affect you in many ways, and trauma may cause you to lose faith in your beliefs and in people, including yourself. Due to this, the terms religious abuse, religious trauma, and religious trauma syndrome will be used interchangeably throughout American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 85, 565-575. Spiritual struggles among atheists: Links to psychological distress and well-being. In fact, researchers have also identified a general religious/spiritual struggles factor (Stauner et al., 2016). For this reason, religious trauma deserves careful attention. Murray-Swank, N. A., and Pargament, K. I. Spiritual transformation among veterans in response to a religious/spiritual struggle. Practitioners may have concerns that, by delving into religious/spiritual issues, they may be overstepping their bounds. They are the result of two things: immersion in a controlling religion and the secondary impact of leaving a religious group. Does negative religious coping accompany, precede, or follow depression among Orthodox Jews? Life is different now. Anger, exit, and assertion: Do people see protest toward God as morally acceptable? 2,000-8,000 words (this range is flexible), Click the link below to submit your proposal:https://www.gcrr.org/submit-proposals, H-Net: Humanities & Social Sciences Online. At age sixteen I began what would be a four year struggle with bulimia. Experiences such as that of Anna shouldnt be a common occurrence in mental health treatment of spiritual emergency but the exception. As Journalist Janet Heimlich has documented in, Breaking Their Will, Bible-based religious groups that emphasize patriarchal authority in family structure and use harsh parenting methods can be destructive. Mental Health, Religion, and Culture, 8(4), 291-308. . Would you like email updates of new search results? Rosmarin, D. H., Malloy, M. C., and Forester, B. P. (2014). I always believed everything that I was taught but I thought that I was not approved by God. Although research on this topic is still emerging, the findings suggest that religious/spiritual struggles have the potential to act as both a cause and an effect of psychological problems. (2019) found that religious/spiritual struggles partially mediated the relationship between the accumulation of major life stressors and higher levels of depression, anxiety, and social isolation, and lower levels of life satisfaction and happiness (see Figure 2). Copyright 2022 The Authors. The nations' proxy battle in Ukraine is causing actual physical altercations on a battlefront thousands of miles away. Lacking a strong sense of purpose and significance in life has been linked with higher levels of religious/spiritual struggle (King et al., 2017). Religions, 9, 242. Indeed, many religious/spiritual struggles of the central figures from the worlds religions can be likened to heros journeys (cf., Campbell, 2008) in which they were called to leave their ordinary existence, found themselves tested by external or internal forces, and returned home victorious, transformed into world redeemers. McConnell, K., Pargament, K. I., Ellison, C. G., and Flannelly, K. J. A closer look at whether caffeine consumption actually increases productivity. Its no wonder the internet is exploding with websites for former believers from all religions, providing forums for people to support each other. These techniques are intended to induce spiritual awakening and an expansion of awareness called spiritual emergence: a life-enhancing aspect of human development through which we seek meaning and connection beyond our personal identities. the implications of specific religious/spiritual struggles (divine, demonic, moral, ultimate, meaning, doubt-related, and interpersonal) for growth and decline. official website and that any information you provide is encrypted Spirituality might be defined as "an inner belief system providing an individual with meaning and purpose in life, a sense of the sacredness of life, and a vision for the betterment of the world." Other definitions emphasize "a connection to that which transcends the self." Religious abuse may also include the misuse of religion for selfish, secular, or ideological ends, such as the abuse of a clerical position. In the last 25 years, religious/spiritual struggles have begun to receive attention from researchers and practitioners. A wide range of ideologies and relationships can cause trauma, whether religious or not, he said. J Cancer Surviv. Most people who go through traumatic events may have temporary difficulty . Winell: Religious trauma syndrome (RTS) is a set of symptoms and characteristics that tend to go together and which are related to harmful experiences with religion. Some survivors, who I prefer to call reclaimers, have flashbacks, panic attacks, or nightmares in adulthood even when they intellectually no longer believe the theology. Winell: Religious trauma syndrome (RTS) is a set of symptoms and characteristics that tend to go together and which are related to harmful experiences with religion. Sedlar, A. E., Stauner, N., Pargament, K. I., Exline, J. J., Grubbs, J. (in press). True believers who then lose their faith feel more anger and depression and grief than those who simply went to church on Sunday. Brainspotting: A Possible Treatment for Trauma? Modern-day narrative accounts also describe growth and transformation through the process of religious/spiritual struggle. Is your impression correct? Abstract Introduction: Empirical research has shown that religious beliefs support people recovering from traumatic experiences. (2020, November 1). | Get the help you need from a therapist near youa FREE service from Psychology Today. This is crucial to understanding the condition and any kind of self-help or treatment. Author website. About one-third of adults are single, some by choice and some involuntarily so. In addition, major life stressors increase the likelihood of religious/spiritual struggles. When spirituality intersects with modern mental health models, clients may be left with inadequate support, or negatively affected by the treatment experience. They hang on to the religion longer than those who simply walk away because they try to make it work even when they have doubts. Working with a nationally representative sample, Trevino, Pargament, Krause, Ironson, and Hill (2017) found that increases in exposure to major life stressors were particularly predictive of religious/spiritual struggles among individuals with higher levels of trait anger, death anxiety, social isolation, and smoking. Siegel, K., and Schrimshaw, E. W. (2000). Journal of Counseling Psychology, 50, 409-419. Arent these just people who would be depressed, anxious, or obsessive anyways? Concerns that life may not really matter, and questions about whether ones own life has deeper meaning. The .gov means its official. Another study, this one of veterans from the Iraq and/or Afghanistan wars (Currier, Smith, and Kuhlman, 2017), revealed that high levels of religious/spiritual struggles were strongly tied to greater suicidality. She writes about her own experience leaving fundamentalism and offers resources for those considering leaving (or those who have already left) their religious communities. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 43(4), 547-554. Religion and spirituality are important resources to many people. I stood there screaming in terror. Groups that demand obedience and conformity produce . Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. The PubMed wordmark and PubMed logo are registered trademarks of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). . I was convinced by then that I was a complete spiritual failure. The site is secure. Deviation from this heterosexual cisgender social identity model is cast as curable 'sexual brokenness'. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 8(4), 341-351. Alempijevic D, Beriashvili R, Beynon J, Alempijevic Petersen D, Birmanns B, Brasholt M, Cohen J, Alempijevic Petersen D, Duque M, Duterte P, Van Es A, Fernando R, Korur Fincanci S, Holger Hansen S, Hamzeh S, Hardi L, Heisler M, Iacopino V, Mygind Leth P, Lin J, Louahlia S, Luytkis H, Louahlia S, Morcillo-Mendez MD, Moreno A, Moscoso V, Oral R, Ozkalipci O, Payne-James J, Quiroga J, Ozkalipci O, Reyes H, Rogde S, Sajantilla A, Ozkalipci O, Schick M, Terzidis A, Lange Thomsen J, Tidball-Binz M, Treue F, Vanezis P, Viera DN. Religious/spiritual struggles can also be found in the biographies of notable scientific and literary figures: Galileo, Leo Tolstoy, Charles Darwin, and Virginia Woolfe, to name a few. Am Psychol. In this article, I'm going to explore the dark side of religion as a religious trauma survivor, and also how to heal these wounds from a deeper perspective. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 67, 425-438. Religion was the cause and I'm struggling to find my identity at the moment," he says. One woman with AIDS spoke about the profound changes she experienced through her religious/spiritual struggles: I value life more now. Sample item:Felt guilt for not living up to my moral standards. 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When a person is challenged by religious beliefs, finds that they lead to uncharacteristic actions, or experiences mental distress as a result of internal doubt or external persecution, the. I have tried hard to make new friends, but I have failed miserably. In addition to anxiety, RTS can include depression, cognitive difficulties, and problems with social functioning. Emotional dysregulation. I thought that basically I, too, would die at Armageddon. As a research-driven institute, GCRR recognizes the need to provide mental health professionals, as well as religious specialists, with scientifically-derived, factual data in order to begin work on understanding and then treating religious trauma. New York, New York: Guilford Press. . What is religious trauma syndrome? Join us August 3-5 for APA 2023! What is religious trauma? For the past twenty years she has counseled men and women in recovery from various forms of fundamentalist religion including the Assemblies of God denomination in which she was raised. ~examining the relationship between religious contexts and trauma symptoms to allow for quantitative ~predictions of clinical psychopathology related to religious trauma; ~informing the clinical assessment of trauma-exposed individuals by providing an accurate and objective quantitative estimation of religious psychopathology; ~providing professional counselors and therapists a better understanding of the neurological effects of religiously-related suffering and how best to treat victims or religious trauma; ~utilizing a national sociological survey to identify the number of people in the U.S. who suffer from religious trauma; ~creating a diagnostic tool for use in clinical settings in order to help identify patients who suffer from religious trauma; ~and publishing the results in both textbook and peer-reviewed academic journal formats for widespread dissemination and utilization in research. Particularly at risk is the strength of their religious faith and the comfort that they derive from it. People were suffering, thought they were alone, and blamed themselves. There also isn't sufficient. We prayed together, and I went home confident that God had heard my prayers. Spiritual struggle and affective symptoms among geriatric mood disordered patients. Journal of Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology, 7(2), 210-216. Other unique contributions will include the formation of a diagnostic Acute Stress Disorder Interview variation to help determine whether a patient is currently suffering from religious trauma. Anyone interested and qualified to contribute are encouraged to submit a CV and abstract proposal on or before the deadline. Sample item: Felt as though others were looking down on me because of my religious/spiritual beliefs. Religious/spiritual struggles are an important part of the life stories of many people, past and present. (More details about this can be found on my Journey Free website and discussed in my talk at the Texas Freethought Convention.). Darren Slade, the president and CEO of the. Am I being punished? Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion, 24, 309-340. However, research shows conversion practices . The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the Murphy, P. E., Fitchett, G., and Emery-Tiburcio, E. (2016). Religious and spiritual struggle: Prevalance and correlates among older adults with depression in the BRIGHTEN program. Do I still believe in God? The Winding Road is one such 9-week group program that was designed to help college students, religious and nonreligious, dealing with religious/spiritual struggles in their transition from life-at-home to life-at-college (Dworsky et al., 2013). Complicated grief in the aftermath of homicide: Spiritual crisis and distress in an African American sample. Literature detailing the cause of religious trauma and religious trauma syndrome has its roots in religious abuse, and the symptoms exhibited within these conditions are similar. The vast majority of spiritual experiences are not problematic. Saritoprak, S. N., and Exline, J. J. Before Religious Trauma Syndrome: Former Christian explains how organized They encourage spiritual practices that promote health like meditation or principles for living like the golden rule. Groups that demand obedience and conformity produce fear, not love and growth. Theres also the expectation by everyone in society that we victims should celebrate this with our perpetrators every Christmas and Easter!! Religious/spiritual struggle in young adult hematopoietic cell transplant survivors. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 29, 653-660. Monsters and posttraumatic stress: an experiential-processing - Nature Twenty-five years later--what do we know about religion/spirituality and psychological well-being among breast cancer survivors? 6 Altmetric Metrics Abstract Trauma survivors may see images of monsters in nightmares and visions when experiencing posttraumatic stress. Posted February 10, 2022 Religion-based LGBTQA + conversion practices frame all people as potential heterosexuals whose gender aligns with their birth sex (in a cisgender binary model of male and female sexes). Wortmann, J. H., Park, C. L., and Edmondson, D. (2011). Can you chip in to get us closer to our goal? Freedom from resentment and pain can follow the decision to let go. Harris explains: Indigenous cultures treat these experiences as a calling for individuals to become a healer or a shaman. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 28, 57-64. However, 89 percent of the U.S. general public reported having some form of religious or spiritual belief. (in press). Now Im losing my country. Winell: Religion causes trauma when it is highly controlling and prevents people from thinking for themselves and trusting their own feelings. Fowler, J. W. (1981). Kenneth I. Pargament, PhD, is a professor emeritus of psychology at Bowling Green State University. Currently, this textbook-style resource will include sections on: 1) Why the study of religious trauma is important; 2) Historical, social, and cultural aspects of religious trauma; 3) Psychological and clinical methods for studying religious trauma; 5) Causes and triggers of religious trauma; 6) Physical, psychological, interpersonal, and emotional manifestations of religious trauma; and. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) - Symptoms and causes B., Exline, J. E., Pargament, K. I., Volk, F., and Lindberg, M. J. These are people for whom ethics, integrity and compassion matter a great deal. My first steps out of fundamentalism were profoundly frightening and I had frequent thoughts of suicide. God, where are you? Its taken me years to feel deserving of anything good. David Lukoff, professor, researcher, clinical psychologist, and co-author of the DSMs Religious and Spiritual Problems section, has worked for 30 years to bring awareness to these conditions. Trauma is a response to an intensely stressful event (s) or situations. Professionals had no awareness or training. Journal of Higher Education, 79, 1-27. Julie J. Exline, PhD, is a professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences at Case Western Reserve University. Hopefully, we can even work on prevention. 2022 Aug 1;217(3):119-122. doi: 10.5694/mja2.51441. Many occur spontaneously through the natural course of life. Truthout doesnt take corporate funding thats how were able to confront the forces of greed and regression, with no strings attached. Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares and severe anxiety, as well as uncontrollable thoughts about the event. Personal, social, and situational factors operate in a dynamic interactive manner in generating religious/spiritual struggles. 36). Im now socially inept, unemployable, and the only way i can have sex is to pay for it. In K. I. Pargament (Ed.-in-Chief), J. Exline and J. Jones (Assoc. 2021 Jul;39(1):51-59. doi: 10.1007/s40592-021-00132-6. Bookshelf Major life crises can affect people not only psychologically, socially, and physically but spiritually as well by raising profoundly unsettling questions: How can God allow such pain and suffering? The answer to the question of whether religious/spiritual struggles are a cause and/or effect of mental health problems has important implications for mental health treatment. Exline, J. J., Yali, A. M., and Sanderson, W. C. (2000). Childhood Trauma and Codependency: Is There a Link? - Psych Central . Religious and spiritual struggles - American Psychological Association Sexual identity or religious freedom: could conversion therapy ever be morally permissible in limited urgent situations? Thou Shalt Not: Treating Religious Trauma and Spiritual Harm With When spiritual emergence occurs, it can cause distress, or even a spiritual emergency, due to the confusion that comes with a lack of context for these practices. More and more, nontheists are asking how they can create similar spiritual communities without the supernaturalism. Register now. Unauthorized use of these marks is strictly prohibited. I was completely out of control. What is different about the clientele you work with? Church Hurt: A Therapeutic Approach for Treating Religious Trauma and Abstract. | Religious Trauma Syndrome: How Some Organized Religion Leads to Mental Health Problems Groups that demand obedience and conformity produce fear, not love and growth. Religious trauma and moral injury from LGBTQA+ conversion practices Religion, with all of its underlying value, can easily become something destructive, abusive, perverted, and traumatizing. Religious and spiritual struggles and their links to psychological adjustment: A meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Keywords: In crisis we pray: Religiosity and the COVID-19 pandemic. People are increasingly using these traditional spiritual practices for stress relief or exercise; however, the average person who engages in these practices might not be aware of the risks involved. A. In some settings the symptoms of religious trauma can be similar My form of religion was very strongly entrenched and anchored deeply in my heart. factors that impact the trajectory of religious/spiritual struggles. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that's triggered by a terrifying event either experiencing it or witnessing it. Another difference is the social context, which is extremely different from other traumas or forms of abuse. 8600 Rockville Pike People are already suffering. Worries that problems are caused by the devil or evil spirits, and feelings of being attacked or tormented by the devil. Moreover, religious/spiritual struggles are reported by people of diverse age, gender, ethnicity, religious affiliation, and socioeconomic status (Abu Raiya, Pargament, Krause, and Ironson, 2015). Guilt, discord, and alienation: The role of religious strain in depression and suicidality. Saying that someone is trying to pathologize authoritarian religion is like saying someone pathologized eating disorders by naming them. Unable to load your collection due to an error, Unable to load your delegates due to an error. RTS is a group of mental and emotional symptoms that toxic religious experiences cause. Each contributor will provide research and best practices from multiple fields of study that will aid in legitimizing religious trauma as an important mental health topic. Mental Health, Religion, and Culture, 8(3), 191-203. This work is licensed under a Creative (2005). Torture. She is also a past president of the Society for the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality (APA Div. Authoritarian religious groups are subcultures where conformity is required in order to belong. Religion in its worst forms causes separation. Her research centers primarily on the interface of clinical, social, and personality psychology, with a special focus on topics involving spirituality, religion, and existential concerns. Sometime this is out of fear, but often it is out of devotion. Campbell, J. Religious Trauma: What No One Tells You at Church Bethesda, MD 20894, Web Policies One reclaimer expressed her frustration this way: Include physically-abusive parents who quote Spare the rod and spoil the child as literally as you can imagine and you have one fucked-up soul: an unloved, rejected, traumatized toddler in the body of an adult. Never, never before did I notice the sky like I notice the sky now. In my opinion, we are simply, as a culture, becoming aware of religious trauma. The Telegraph (May 22, 2020). FOIA But to my mind, at that point, such help couldnt fix the core problem: I was a failure in the eyes of God. Winell is the author of Leaving the Fold A Guide for Former Fundamentalists and Others Leaving their Religion, written during her years of private practice in psychology. An organization called Recovery from Religion, helps people start self-help meet-up groups. Has my religious community abandoned me? . New York, New York: Harper and Row. Just like telling kids about Santa Claus and letting them work out their beliefs later, people see no harm in teaching religion to children. Several studies have begun to investigate these models. With constant judgment of self and others, people become alienated from themselves, each other, and the world. Ive matured in my view of the struggleit doesnt have to be resolved right now. B., and Bradley, D. F. (2018). Bockrath, M. F., Pargament, K. I., Wong, S., Harriott, V. A., Pomerleau, J. M., and Exline, J. J. . Better understanding of the scope and nature of LGBTQA+ religious conversion practices will support recovery. Religious/spiritual struggles are also commonplace in counseling and mental health centers. They provide social support, a place for events and rites of passage, exchange of ideas, inspiration, opportunities for service, and connection to social causes. Perceiving benefits in adversity: Stress related growth in women living with HIV/AIDS. Ive had clients who remember being distraught when given a vivid bloody image of Jesus paying the ultimate price for their sins. Few psychiatrists or psychologists are properly trained in diagnosing and treating religious and spiritual problems. Taken as a whole, these findings suggest that growth following religious/spiritual struggles is not inevitable. Neimeyer, R. A., and Burke, L. A. (2006) Examining the links between spiritual struggles and symptoms of psychopathology in a national sample. The purpose of this study is to examine a model of the interrelationships among veterans' traumatic exposure, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), guilt, social functioning, change in religious faith, and continued use of mental health services. I was brainwashed from birth and wasted 25 years of my life serving Him! A few studies have begun to identify some of the factors that may foster growth and reduce distress among those who experience religious/spiritual struggles. Spiritual Abuse: How to Identify It and Find Help - WebMD Meisenhelder, J. Religion as problem, religion as solution: Religious buffers of the links between religious/spiritual struggles and well-being/mental health. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Invisible Disabilities and the Predicament of Disclosure. Each contributor will provide research and best practices from multiple fields of study that will aid .