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It looks like I have a new term to add to my vocabulary: Religious Trauma Syndrome (RTS).
“Religious Trauma Syndrome (RTS) is a new term, coined by Marlene Winell to name a recognizable set of symptoms experienced as a result of prolonged exposure to a toxic religious environment and/or the trauma of leaving the religion. It is akin to Complex PTSD, which is defined as ‘a psychological injury that results from protracted exposure to prolonged social and/or interpersonal trauma with lack or loss of control, disempowerment, and in the context of either captivity or entrapment, i.e. the lack of a viable escape route for the victim’…. Religious trauma is difficult to see because it is camouflaged by the respectability of religion in culture. To date, parents are afforded the right to teach their own children whatever doctrines they like, no matter how heinous, degrading, or mentally unhealthy. Even helping professionals largely perceive Christianity as benign. This will need to change for treatment methods to be developed and people to get help that allows them to truly reclaim their lives.”
This is a tough one to deal with, mainly because it addresses what children are taught. On the one hand, I don’t want children to grow up suffering because of what their parents teach them. On the other, I don’t want to go around dictating what parents can teach their children. Anyone have any thoughts on how to balance all that out?
Yes, it’s actually a real thing now. I think this is good because I remember the day when many therapists discounted or dismissed religion as a legitimate topic to bring up in therapy. Now they’re realizing it isn’t.
Finally got a chance to read this. I think its important to note its not all religions or not all churches. Just the ones that teach toxic doctrines.
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