New research finds that religious trauma is experienced by up to 30% of US adults, with LGBTQ+ individuals bearing the brunt of the damage. Mental health experts are advocating for religious trauma to be an official diagnosis.
As Spencer Macnaughton reports, 1 in 3 American adults report that they have suffered from religious trauma. "Religious trauma occurs when an individual’s religious upbringing has lasting adverse effects on their physical, mental or emotional well-being, according to the Religious Trauma Institute."
"Experts say LGBTQ people — who represent more than 7% of the U.S. population, according to a 2023 Gallup poll — experience religious trauma at disproportionate rates and in unique ways. Very little research has been done in this field, but a 2022 study found that LGBTQ people who experience certain forms of religious trauma are at increased risk for suicidality, substance abuse, homelessness, anxiety and depression."
One advantage to growing up in the #ChurchOfChrist is that #Christmas has always been a secular holiday (except when it gave the #COC a chance to bitch about the #WarOnChristmas ofc).
So I don't have #ReligiousTrauma around the winter holidays, thank the gods.
In 2015 I left my abuser of seven years, and since have been disabled with #PTSD and other chronic conditions, fighting #suicide. I was unable to work at all for five years. My personal narrative now is about recovery out of that #DarkSojourn. I'm usually in some kind of pain, and try not to whine too much about it. I'm #Genderfluid#nonbinary (they/them) of recent transition, #polyamorous, and #bisexual.