Editing Religious trauma syndrome (section)

== Antecedents to RTS ==
The development of RTS as a diagnosable and treatable set of symptoms relies on several psychological theories that provide an academic framework with which to understand it.

=== PTSD ===
Like all iterations of trauma, the development of RTS is informed by [[Post-traumatic stress disorder|PTSD]], defined in [[DSM-5|DSM V]] as a [[mental disorder]] that can develop after a person is exposed to a traumatic event, such as [[sexual assault]], [[war]]fare, [[traffic collision]]s, [[child abuse]], or other threats on a person's life. These events can be personally experienced, observed, or imagined. The important element is the perception of life-threatening danger. In the case of RTS, a person can be traumatized by images of burning [[lake of fire|hellfire]]; [[Fundamentalism|fundamentalist]] groups are noted for using terrifying stories to [[indoctrinate]] children.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Gerencser|first=Bruce|date=2017-05-12|title=Scaring Children and Teenagers Into Getting Saved|url=https://brucegerencser.net/2017/05/scaring-children-and-teenagers-into-getting-saved/|access-date=2020-10-26|website=The Life and Times of Bruce Gerencser|language=en-US}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable ([[WP:NOTRS]]).|date=July 2023}}

The experience of leaving one's faith can be an event that takes place quickly or over a period of time. Because of the overall intensity and major impact of the event, it can be compared with other events that cause PTSD. Key symptoms of PTSD are re-experiencing ([[Flashback (psychology)|flashbacks]], nightmares), avoidance (staying away from places, things, and thoughts that are reminders), arousal and reactivity, and cognition and [[mood disorder|mood disturbances]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=NIMH » Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder|url=https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd|access-date=2020-10-26|website=www.nimh.nih.gov}}</ref> These symptoms are also true for many experiencing religious trauma.

=== Complex PTSD ===
Complex PTSD is a closely related disorder that refers to repeated trauma over months or years, rather than a one-time event. Any type of long-term trauma can lead to C-PTSD. The term ''C-PTSD'' was originated by [[Judith Herman]],<ref name=":6">{{Cite book|author=Herman, Judith Lewis|title=Trauma and recovery|date=1997|publisher=BasicBooks|isbn=0-465-08730-2|edition=Rev.|location=New York|oclc=36543539}}</ref> who outlines the history of trauma as a concept in the psychological world along with a three-stage approach for recovery (safety, remembrance and mourning, and reconnection). Herman outlines the importance of naming and diagnosing trauma to aid recovery, further legitimizing the need for defining RTS as resulting from specifically religious experiences.<ref name=":6" /> Herman also describes C-PTSD with the traumatic complications of surviving captivity. This is a diagnosis comparable to RTS, in which RTS occurs in response to perceived captivity (see [[#How RTS develops]]) rather than physical reality.

The symptoms of C-PTSD include those of PTSD plus lack of [[emotional regulation]], disassociation, negative [[Self-perception theory|self-perception]], relationship issues, and loss of meaning comparable to RTS. Traumatologist [[Pete Walker (traumatologist)|Pete Walker]] sees [[attachment disorder]] as one of the key symptoms of Complex PTSD.  He describes it as the result of growing up with primary caretakers who were regularly experienced as dangerous. He explains that recurring [[Child abuse|abuse]] and [[Child neglect|neglect]] habituates children to living in fear and sympathetic nervous system arousal.<ref name=":7">{{Cite book|author=Walker, Pete|title=Complex PTSD : from surviving to thriving : a guide and map for recovering from childhood trauma|date=13 December 2013|isbn=978-1-4928-7184-2|edition=First|publisher=Azure Coyote |location=[Lafayette, CA]|oclc=871177210}}</ref>

=== Betrayal trauma and shattered assumptions theory ===
While the traditional paradigm defining PTSD focuses on fear response to trauma and emphasizes corrective emotional processing as treatment, RTS may be better understood as a set of symptoms comparable to [[betrayal trauma]] informed by [[shattered assumptions theory]].<ref name="Winell BABCP 3" /> Betrayal trauma adds a fourth assumption ("people are trustworthy and worth relating to") to Janoff-Bulman's original three: (the overall benevolence of the world, the meaningfulness of the world, and self worth).<ref name=":8">{{Cite book|last=Freyd|first=Jennifer and Anne DePrince|title=Loss of the Assumptive World: a theory of traumatic loss|publisher=Psychology Press|year=2002|isbn=1583913130|editor-last=Kauffman|editor-first=Jeffrey|pages=73|chapter=The Harm of Trauma: Pathological Fear, Shattered Assumptions, or Betrayal?}}</ref> Betrayal trauma theory acknowledges that victims unconsciously keep themselves from becoming aware of betrayal in order to keep from shattering that fourth basic assumption, the loss of which would be traumatic.<ref name=":8" />

Religious trauma can be compared to betrayal trauma because of the trust placed in authoritarian communities and religious leaders which causes harm to individuals. Betrayal trauma theory also acknowledges the power of shattered assumptions to cause trauma. With RTS, individuals are not only experiencing betrayal from family, religious community, and trusted faith leaders, they are also experiencing a shattered faith.<ref name="Winell BABCP 3" /> The potential extremity of feelings in relation to losing one's worldview while also losing emotional and social support to get through any given crisis can cause further trauma.

While fear paradigms tend to focus on treating symptoms of trauma through exposure therapy and attention to emotional regulation, betrayal trauma theory looks at the social context in which the betrayal occurred, placing the [[pathology]] in the traumatic event rather than the individual.<ref name=":8" /> This affects treatment approaches and also informs the treatment for RTS.

=== Religious harm and trauma ===
The psychological harm that can be caused by authoritarian religion has been addressed by authors prior to the naming of the religious trauma syndrome. These writings have included work by psychologists and therapists (Tarico,<ref>{{Cite book|author= Tarico, Valerie|title= The dark side : how evangelical teachings corrupt love and truth| year = 2006|publisher= Dea Press|isbn= 1-4116-9125-3|location= Seattle, WA|oclc= 71783763}}</ref> Ray,<ref>{{Cite book|author= Ray, Darrel|title= The God virus : how religion infects our lives and culture|date= 2009|publisher= IPC Press|isbn= 978-0-9709505-1-2|location= Bonner Springs, Kan.|oclc= 282753096}}</ref> Winell, Kramer & Alstad,<ref>{{Cite book|author= Kramer, Joel|title= The guru papers : masks of authoritarian power| year = 1993|publisher= North Atlantic Books/Frog|others= Alstad, Diana, 1944-|isbn= 1-883319-00-5|location= Berkeley, Calif.|oclc= 27684736}}</ref> Hassan,<ref name=":9">{{Cite book|author= Hassan, Steven|title= Freedom of mind : helping loved ones leave controlling people, cults and beliefs| year = 2012|publisher= Freedom of Mind Press|isbn= 978-0-9670688-1-7|edition= 1st|location= Newton, MA|oclc= 809069037}}</ref> Cohen,<ref>{{Cite book|author= Cohen, Edmund D.|title= The mind of the Bible-believer| year = 1988|publisher= Prometheus Books |isbn= 0-87975-495-8|edition= New updated|location= Buffalo, NY|oclc= 19045001}}</ref> Watters,<ref>{{Cite book |author= Watters, Wendell W.|title= Deadly doctrine : health, illness, and Christian god-talk| year = 1992|publisher= Prometheus Books|isbn= 0-87975-782-5|location= Buffalo, N.Y.|oclc= 26541707}}</ref> Greven,<ref>{{Cite book|author= Greven, Philip J.|title= Spare the child : the religious roots of punishment and the psychological impact of physical abuse| year = 1992|publisher= Vintage Books|isbn= 0-679-73338-8|edition= 1st Vintage books|location= New York|oclc= 24373779}}</ref> Moyers), and many memoirs from former believers, including former pastors (Babinski,<ref>{{Cite book|title= Leaving the fold : testimonies of former fundamentalists| year = 1995|publisher= Prometheus Books|last=Babinski|first=Edward T.|isbn= 0-87975-907-0|location= Amherst, N.Y.|oclc= 30894317}}</ref> Loftus,<ref>{{Cite book|author= Loftus, John W.|title= Why I became an atheist : a former preacher rejects Christianity| year = 2012|publisher= Prometheus Books|isbn= 978-1-61614-577-4|edition= Rev. and expanded|location= Amherst, N.Y.|oclc=761482061}}</ref> [[Dan Barker|Barker]], DeWitt).<ref>{{Cite book|author=DeWitt, Jerry|title=Hope after faith : an ex-pastor's journey from belief to atheism| year = 2013|publisher= Da Capo Press|others= Brown, Ethan|isbn= 978-0-306-82224-7|location= Boston, MA|oclc= 849498288}}</ref> The work of cult specialist Steven Hassan applies to any authoritarian group that applies "undue influence".<ref name=":9" /> Journalist [[Janet Heimlich]],<ref>{{Cite book
|author= Heimlich, Janet
|title=Breaking their will: Shedding Light on Religious Child Maltreatment
|year=2011
|publisher=Prometheus Books
|isbn=978-1-61614-405-0
|location=Amherst, N.Y.|oclc=679931793}}
</ref> in her research on child maltreatment in religious communities, identified the most damaging groups as having a Bible-belief system that creates an authoritarian, isolative, threat-based model of reality.

The specific semi-medical metaphors of religion as a [[memetic]] virus or of "God as a virus" have gained some attention.<ref>
{{cite book
 |last1                = McGrath
 |first1               = Alister
 |author-link1         = Alister McGrath
 |date                 = 15 February 2011
 |title                = Why God Won't Go Away: Engaging With The New Atheism
 |url                  = https://books.google.com/books?id=tGypAwAAQBAJ
 |publication-place    = London
 |publisher            = Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge
 |isbn                 = 9780281065769
 |access-date          = 20 April 2024
 |quote                = Religion is a 'brilliantly successful virus' that contaminates even the best of minds.[...] Though Dawkins' language about God as a 'virus of the mind' was, I think, clearly intended to be metaphorical, some of his less sophisticated followers seem to take it literally.
}} 
</ref><ref>
{{cite book
 |last1                = Bowker
 |first1               = John
 |author-link1         = John Bowker (theologian)
 |year                 = 1995
 |title                = Is God a Virus?: Genes, Culture, and Religion
 |url                  = https://books.google.com/books?id=3iDXAAAAMAAJ
 |series               = Gresham lectures
 |publisher            = The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge
 |page                 = 72
 |isbn                 = 9780281048120
 |access-date          = 20 April 2024
 |quote                = God as a virus [...] consider the basis on which Dawkins argues that God is a virus. His contention is that a God-meme can be identified [...].
}} 
</ref>