169
submitted 9 months ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world

Some mental health experts are advocating for religious trauma to be considered an official disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

Kellen Swift-Godzisz, 35, said he doesn’t go on dates, struggles with erectile dysfunction and is hesitant to trust people. For more than 20 years, he’s experienced intense bouts of anxiety and depression that have had a “major hold on his life.”

“Imagine being told by everyone you trusted that you’re going to hell because you like men,” Swift-Godzisz, a marketing project manager living in Chicago, told NBC News.

At just 11 years old, Swift-Godzisz recalled, he would sit in his bedroom every night praying or writing letters that said, “Please God, remove my affliction of same-sex attraction,” and would then store each letter in an overflowing shoebox in his closet.

top 23 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] friend_of_satan@lemmy.world 35 points 9 months ago

The word "still" makes it seem like the cause of the religious trauma was solved. It wasn't, so of course people are still traumatized.

[-] gAlienLifeform@lemmy.world 21 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

For real, I'm pretty sure the city of Philadelphia is still stuck using a Catholic adoption agency that refuses to place with gay couples for it's foster care because the Supreme Court won't let the city ditch their bigoted asses

Being traumatized by the amount of power religious conservatives hold over all of our lives is rational

[-] Behaviorbabe@kbin.social 30 points 9 months ago

I periodically remind my children that if someone approaches them talking about god that they’re lunatics and to find another adult immediately.

[-] Uranium3006@kbin.social 19 points 9 months ago

religion poisons everything. we must defeat our oppressors

[-] Lath@kbin.social 10 points 9 months ago

Bish, please. Religious trauma haunts everyone.

[-] Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone 22 points 9 months ago

“Everyone” doesn’t have to worry about being subject to a cottage industry of legal child abuse/indoctrination camps meant to change their sexuality or gender identity and are rife with sexual abuse.

[-] Lath@kbin.social -2 points 9 months ago

Yeah, the rest of the kids have to be taken to church regularly in order to be sexually abused. How privileged of them.
Then there are those extra lucky ones who get home visits instead!

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 13 points 9 months ago

Are you actually comparing being taken to church with "conversion therapy?"

[-] Lath@kbin.social 7 points 9 months ago

Are you unable to take into consideration the idea that the religious staff didn't need special camps in order to assault children? That they could and did do it on church grounds or even in the victims own homes?

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago

Do you really not understand the difference between taking a child to a church where they may possibly be assaulted and forcing a child to be sexually tortured? Really?

[-] Lath@kbin.social 10 points 9 months ago

Dear cephalopod, you're too focused on comparing who gets harmed the most. It's not a contest. None should be harmed at all.
The division is unhealthy.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 12 points 9 months ago

You cannot make it any more illegal to sexually abuse children in church than it already is. Conversion therapy is legal in a majority of U.S. states. It is legal sexual abuse. That's a huge difference.

[-] Lath@kbin.social 1 points 9 months ago

Converting "deviant behaviours" was a mainstay of psychological practices up until recently. It wasn't limited to sexual identity. Anyone who didn't conform to social norms of so-called 'morals' and religious background was subjected to this kind of torture, one of its more famous victims being a daughter of the Kennedy family.

There is no legal sexual abuse. There is lack of information, lack of evidence or complicit corruption. Any judge that respects the spirit of law will treat abuse as such when presented to them.

Yet if by chance, any abuse is legal then you are also allowed to perform it on those who practice it on others. I recommend you do so if there is such a situation.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 4 points 9 months ago

Conversion therapy is sexual abuse. It is legal. Therefore it is legal sexual abuse.

https://www.nsvrc.org/blogs/conversion-therapy-sexual-violence

[-] EldritchFeminity@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

The irony of the person who came into a post specifically about the trauma that religion causes LGBTQ people and tried to make it about other people saying this is too unreal.

Pot, have you met kettle?

[-] Lath@kbin.social 1 points 9 months ago

I didn't try to make it about other people. Being a victim of religion is not an exclusive membership. Or are you proud of being an abuser's favoured one and I'm threatening that position?
If so, then I apologize. Please, segregate yourself. Stand out. Be different from any other victim.

My bad.

[-] Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 9 months ago

Did it make sense to you when you wrote this comment to suggest that kids subjected to conversion therapy camps are somehow less exposed to abusive religious practices?

[-] oDDmON@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago

TY. Came here to say the same.

Doesn’t matter your orientation, guilt and shame are the tools of control and clergy wield them to great effect.

[-] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago

That’s absolutely true, but there’s an added dimension for queer people because it serves as an additional original sin.

[-] Ranvier@sopuli.xyz 1 points 9 months ago

The lgbt person's story is just an example. The article goes on state religious trauma may affect as many as a third of US adults. It's not saying this hypothetical new dsm diagnosis would be specific to only lgbt related religious trauma.

[-] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 9 points 9 months ago

No fucking shit. Maybe it’s just the queerness talking but I assumed this was common knowledge. And it’s clearly intentional. Religious folks don’t protest pride to present an informed alternative, they do it because some of us will have trauma responses when hearing what they say and trauma responses make for vulnerable people, and Christianity preys on vulnerable people.

It’s the same as how Christians give us the trauma that drives us to alcohol abuse then use treatment for that as a recruitment ground. Whether it’s actually intentional or not they drive us to the exact positions that they recruit from.

[-] IzzyScissor@kbin.social 1 points 9 months ago

Honestly, the worst part is going to a doctor who you can tell is mildly religious and they start asking questions about why you think you feel anxiety and depression.

The trauma response to lie and hide is so strong, it takes SO MUCH effort to just be honest that it was your religious upbringing... and the second you do, they act like you're personally attacking them. I've had doctors/nurses go from being warm and kind to suddenly going cold because I had the audacity to say that their religion is the cause of my trauma. You just have to keep looking for a new doctor until someone gets it.

[-] Fapper_McFapper@lemmy.world 0 points 9 months ago

Fuck Religion and if you’re here to defend religion, fuck you too!

this post was submitted on 29 Jan 2024
169 points (97.7% liked)

News

23320 readers
3503 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil


Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban. Do not respond to rule-breaking content; report it and move on.


2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.


Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. We have an actively updated blocklist, which you can see here: https://lemmy.world/post/2246130 if you feel like any website is missing, contact the mods. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.


Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.


5. Only recent news is allowed.


Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.


6. All posts must be news articles.


No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.


7. No duplicate posts.


If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.


8. Misinformation is prohibited.


Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.


9. No link shorteners.


The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.


10. Don't copy entire article in your post body


For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS