Religious Trauma and 'Displaced Fear'

A common side-effect experienced by those who leave organized religion or other high control environments is intense anxiety. Years of internal structure being dismantled with nothing to replace it with along with loss of like-minded community can leave individuals feeling ungrounded. The focus of this post is on one aspect of this cause of anxiety which we'll call 'displaced fear'.

If for years you were conditioned to fear and avoid eternal damnation, 'satan's influence', certain people/places, or even something like pokemon cards ect whatever you were told was 'dangerous', it does not leave much room for your internal fear system to regulate and learn what is actually dangerous in the world. Is disagreeing with someone in authority actually dangerous? Or was the conditioning so strong that your nervous system reacts with adrenaline at the very thought. Mental health treatment, psychotropic medications, healthy sexuality, certain political beliefs, any and all of these things are commonly 'demonized' when depression itself, suffering without intention and repression are usually the destructive forces.

As an exercise, list everything that you become aware of as you focus on what elicits a fear response in you. It can be something tangible vs something internal (ie. making a mistake).

Next rate on a scale of 1-10, how intense that fear is.

Finally, on a scale of 1-10, how likely are those things to cause harm- for this part you may need to do some research or spend some time doing a risk assessment.

Notice if there are any major discrepancies between those numbers of the same fear. For example, Tarot cards being an 8 fear with a 2 realistic likelihood of causing harm.

Take note if there are any fears that have a much higher risk than a fear signal. For example, allowing your kids a sleepover with acquaintances may have a 2 fear when the risks to their wellbeing and safety may by much higher statistically.

This can be a good guide for where to practice some 'exposure therapy'. Allow yourself to engage in the low risk behaviors to start to regulate your fear response. If this step feels too daunting, engage the support of a trusted friend or therapist to support you through this process. If there are fears that are underreactionry, spend time evaluating why those rational fears may have been dissuaded.