One in Three U.S. Adults Have Experienced Religious Trauma

Last updated on: October 29, 2026 at 1:44 pm by Michael Camp

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One in Three U.S. Adults Have Experienced Religious Trauma 2026-10-29T13:44:15-07:00 Michael Camp

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Religious trauma

This astounding statistic exposes the impact of harmful doctrines and practices within high-control faith systems. | Image by Holger Langmaier from Pixabay

Many people think there’s a positive correlation between religion and mental health and there likely is for those inside healthy faith communities. But over the last few decades researchers have discovered that as many as one third of U.S. adults have gone through some kind of faith-related trauma. Or, they have experienced spiritual abuse, typically stemming from leaving high-control religious groups, with the LGBTQ community heavily affected.[1] This is what my experience was having been in the evangelical movement for over 25 years, including being a member, leader, and missionary within Baptist, independent, charismatic, and other conservative Christian churches.

Religious Trauma Syndrome (RTS)

Moreover, some people who experience religious trauma will develop Religious Trauma Syndrome (RTS). RTS is defined as “the condition experienced by people who are struggling with leaving an authoritarian, dogmatic religion and coping with the damage of indoctrination.” It is the condition of people who are struggling to leave a religion or beliefs and practices, which are often founded on the fear of God, wrath, judgment, domineering church leaders, and an obsession with the Bible, the prophetic, and/or the doctrine of hell. These characteristics have caused RTS sufferers physical, emotional, and/or life-threatening harm, as they cope with the damage done. RTS is especially prevalent in people who come out of theologically conservative Christian circles.

“RTS is defined as “the condition experienced by people who are struggling with leaving an authoritarian, dogmatic religion and coping with the damage of indoctrination.”

The damage caused by high-demand faith environments like these are things like anxiety disorders, depression, complex PTSD, intense shame, guilt, and negative relational impact. These can cause family or friendship deterioration, estrangement, lack of social support, and “relational homelessness.” For me, once I started questioning my evangelical faith and over the years began experiencing and observing spiritual abuse (when authoritative and dogmatic church leaders manipulate and control members), I fell into a serious funk that was diagnosed as PTSD and “aggravated depression” by my first two therapists.

The Damage of Cultish Churches

What’s more, today in my spiritual coaching practice, I have clients who tell me the most harrowing stories of their traumatic experiences in cultic churches or ministries. They were spiritually and emotionally abused and manipulated. The theology of these churches was extremely narrow and transactional. The character of the God they taught was one of divine wrath, who threatens eternal damnation and considers humanity totally depraved. This God can’t forgive without a substitutionary sacrifice, his Word predicts a soon-to-be Rapture and/or final judgment, and he demands obedience to religious codes. These include believing a set of doctrines, submission of women, corporal punishment of children, and a dogmatic purity culture, especially when it comes to sexuality.

Usually, the leaders of these movements are authoritarian and controlling. The practice of loving people may appear time to time, especially right after one enters the group, but the love of God is largely given lip service. Practices of the leadership and congregation often turn sour. Questions are not encouraged—or, only very safe questions—and thinking for oneself and having a more pluralistic mix of opinions on theology is rarely if ever tolerated. People become clones of one another and an us-vs-them mentality develops, where outsiders and unbelievers are not trusted at best and are demonized at worst.

Why Some People Don’t Notice Spiritual Abuse

For many people in the congregation, a lot of this abusive, domineering leadership style and the teaching of toxic beliefs is not really noticed. Some have grown up in the church or joined in their formative years and this is all they have known. They have a sense of community and belonging and enjoy worshiping a God who has supposedly saved them. These people feel secure being in a group that always seems to be certain about the answers to life’s mysteries. If people don’t question things very much and just become clones of the church body, things appear normal. But the minute someone decides to question the teaching of the church or the church’s interpretation of the Bible or exhibits practices outside the norm, that’s when problems arise.

Sincere Questions Aren’t Adequately Answered

Here are the types of questions that might arise. How can a God of love consign my unbelieving friend or child to everlasting hell? (whom I haven’t been able to convert or has fallen away). Why isn’t God a God of mercy, rehabilitation, and restoration in the afterlife? Where did Jesus teach that people in the LGBTQ community can’t be true Christians unless they turn heterosexual or become celibate? Is Paul really talking about modern, mutually loving homosexual relationships? Why do I still struggle with homosexual feelings even after trying “conversion therapy?” For what reasons has the church become more political and doesn’t allow differing political views or routinely demonizes Democrats?

Why is abortion the litmus test issue for every politician, regardless of how they stand on other critical issues or regardless of their behavior? Should we always consider abortion murder? Why can’t women be leaders or even pastors in the church? Is spanking children really the only right way of “biblical” discipline? Why can’t a woman divorce her unrepentant, abusive husband? How can the Bible be truly inerrant when I see obvious contradictions in it? Why is that one pastor so driven and domineering? We saw a case of sexual abuse in the church covered up. Why were victims told not to share their story and the perpetrator still has access to children? Why do I get a lot of pat answers to these questions that don’t satisfy intellectually?

Often, once these types of questions are voiced, one will begin to see push-back and more abusive behaviors begin to surface that can be quite traumatic. Also, oftentimes, these traits of the church or ministry are not noticed so much until one joins a leadership team and sees what’s going on behind the scenes.

The Trauma of Being Under a Two-Faced God

Finally, trauma can surface over years of internalizing a transactional, wrathful, seemingly two-faced God. One who says he will only save people from hell (which he supposedly says they deserve), if they accept the violent, torturous sacrifice of Jesus as appeasing divine wrath over humanity’s original sin. And, this same God has a record in the Bible of violent retribution (even genocide, e.g. the book of Joshua) alongside claims of restorative love. Which one of these biblical gods will show up when the rubber meets the road? This kind of internalized image of God causes cognitive dissonance that can mess with one’s mind and cultivate fear.

The questions are, why is there such a thing as RTS, why is it so prevalent (one out of three U.S. adults), and how can we be more aware of how to prevent or treat it and relieve human suffering? After years of being inside a high-control faith (evangelical and fundamentalist Christianity) and coaching people who need support coming out of such systems, I have pinpointed my top five reasons why religion or church oftentimes hurts rather than helps. To learn about these, look for the forthcoming article, Top 5 Reasons Why a Church or Faith System Becomes Toxic.

[1] https://www.vpm.org/npr-news/2024-02-09/study-finds-1-in-3-americans-suffer-religious-trauma-lgbtq-community-is-the-worst-affected

Learn how to address religious trauma at Faith Transitions and get faith deconstruction resources at The Spiritual Brewpub.

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