What disorders are Recovering Catholics, ex-Fundamentalists, and ex-Evangelicals most likely to suffer from?

Question

What psychological disorders are Recovering Roman Catholics, ex-Fundamentalist Christians, and ex-Evangelical Christians most likely to suffer from after they leave their religion? (I call out these three because they are similar in indoctrination).

I've read on quite a few forums the mental abuse that people in these sects suffer from. When they eventually leave, what is the disorder that is most likely to result?

Answer 1

enlightenment and an unbiased perspective.

Answer 2

Guilt and fear of eternal damnation.

Answer 3

The fear of not knowing... not knowing if they've made the right choice. Not knowing what to believe in anymore, not knowing how to feel, resentment, embarrassment, used.

I tell you this from experience. I've been there, I've been through it. I was raised a Christian. When I began discovering the history of the religion that I was following and began understanding what that religion was used for... I felt sick to the stomach. It was an ongoing feeling for about a week straight... I couldn't sleep, I couldn't eat, I couldn't look my parents in the eyes.

Today, I am glad I went through it... I am more connected to GOD that any religion could ever bring me. Everyone that knows me understand my stance on religion vs spirituality. I feel free from the shackles of a sick religion that's created to leave you asleep in the "Matrix".  

Answer 4

I come from the opposite side of the fence.  I converted to Catholicism three years ago and it changed my life.  Never had I been so healed, comforted, and finally rooted in Jesus Christ.

God bless.

Answer 5

This is just a humble guess...

But I'd think they would suffer from the same sorts of things *anyone* would suffer, if they had lost most of their friends and social support networks.  That kind of isolation can lead to social anxieties and depression if left unchecked.  In some it can manifest as a complicated grief even.  The loss of structure and "answers" in their own lives can also lead to uncertainty and doubt which can make these things worse before they get better.

If this doesn't happen, there may be some tendency to "act out" or to do *everything* that was "forbidden" previously, since without the structure and social disapproval, in some folks *impulse control* can fall apart.

Also, if some of the indoctrination is more severe and cult-like, there may be some PTSD issues that arise once folks become *aware* that they were brainwashed and empathized with their abusers.

In any case, I think the best thing for these folks...ironically enough, would be a 12-step program.  This way they don't have to "quit God" cold turkey, and they still have a support network of folks who have been there and are doing that.  It would correct for the isolation and enable concepts like free will and independent thought to be re-introduced to the person who has left "the flock".

I hope this is at least somewhat helpful.  This is a tough one, because not all faith winds up abusive, but there are *Plenty* of abuses within the more conservative faiths.