Playful Image of New DSMV language
Creative Play: I asked ChatGPT to come up with some terminology, to define these things I exprienced from a “mental illnesss” framework, in terms of how a faith based cult had specific issues that generated mental illness.
DSMV Category: Faith-Based Mental Illness
Definition: The manifestation of mental health challenges stemming from rigid adherence to specific religious beliefs, leading to cognitive, emotional, and behavioral disturbances.
Application: Illustrates the unique category of mental health concerns arising specifically from the influence of religious doctrines, emphasizing the need for nuanced understanding and targeted therapeutic approaches.
Specific Mental Health Terms:
Cognitive Dissonance of Faith: Definition: The mental discomfort experienced when holding conflicting beliefs within a religious context.
Application: Navigating the tension between fear-based teachings and the core message of love and compassion in Christianity.
Fear-Induced Cognitive Fog: Definition: Mental confusion and lack of clarity resulting from fear-based teachings.
Application: Experiencing difficulty in critical thinking and decision-making due to the emotional impact of fear-driven doctrines.
Anxiety of Spiritual Condemnation: Definition: Persistent worry and apprehension about the potential spiritual consequences of one's actions. Application: Fear-based teachings may contribute to heightened anxiety regarding perceived moral failings.
Orthodox Paralysis: Definition: Feeling immobilized or trapped by strict adherence to orthodox beliefs. Application: Fear of deviating from established doctrines may lead to a sense of paralysis in personal growth and exploration.
Existential Dissonance: Definition: A state of inner conflict arising from the clash between fear-based teachings and one's innate sense of purpose and meaning. Application: Wrestling with questions of personal identity and purpose within the context of fear-driven religious narratives.
Sacred Self-Reflection Inhibition: Definition: The hindrance of healthy self-reflection due to the fear of divine judgment. Application: Fear-based teachings may discourage individuals from critically examining their beliefs and behaviors.
Dread-Driven Dogma Adherence: Definition: Rigorous adherence to religious doctrines fueled primarily by fear rather than genuine conviction. Application: Following religious practices not out of love or devotion but as a means to avoid perceived negative consequences.
Faith-Induced Cognitive Disregulation: Definition: Disruption of cognitive processes resulting from the internal conflict between faith and fear. Application: Experiencing mental distress and confusion when attempting to reconcile deeply ingrained fear with the concept of faith.
Dysfunctional Divine Relationship Patterns: Definition: Unhealthy interpersonal patterns influenced by fear-based teachings about the divine. Application: Struggling with feelings of unworthiness, guilt, or inadequacy in one's relationship with the divine.
Spiritual Gaslighting Resonance: Definition: Internalizing manipulative religious narratives that undermine one's sense of reality and self. Application: Experiencing self-doubt and confusion as a result of fear-based teachings that manipulate perceptions of truth.
Catastrophic Thinking: Definition: The tendency to perceive situations as far worse than they are. Application: Fear-based teachings may contribute to catastrophic thinking, where everyday events are viewed through a lens of extreme negativity or danger.
Mind Reading Bias: Definition: Assuming that one knows the thoughts and intentions of others without sufficient evidence. Application: Fear-based doctrines may encourage believers to engage in mind reading, assuming negative motives or influences in others.
Demonization Bias: Definition: A tendency to attribute negative intentions or characteristics to others. Application: Labeling certain behaviors or individuals as "demonic" may contribute to a bias where others are automatically seen as malevolent.
Religious Stigma: Definition: The societal or self-imposed negative perception associated with certain religious beliefs. Application: Fear-based teachings may contribute to stigmatizing mental health challenges by attributing them to demonic influences rather than recognizing them as human experiences.
Demonic Attribution Syndrome: Definition: The belief that mental health challenges are directly caused by demonic forces. Application: Fear-based religious teachings may lead to the misconception that mental health issues are a result of demonic influence rather than complex human experiences.
Religious Paranoia: Definition: An irrational fear of perceived religious threats. Application: Fear-based doctrines can contribute to paranoia, where individuals may fear demonic influences in ordinary aspects of life.
Fear-Induced Hallucinations: Definition: Hallucinatory experiences triggered by intense fear, terror, or anxiety. Application: Extreme fear cultivated by religious teachings may contribute to hallucinatory perceptions, such as seeing demonic influences where none exist.
Religious Cognitive Distortion: Definition: Distorted thought patterns influenced by religious teachings. Application: Fear-based doctrines can contribute to cognitive distortions, such as black-and-white thinking, overgeneralization, or catastrophizing.
Belief-Driven Paranoia: Definition: Paranoia fueled by rigid adherence to specific religious beliefs. Application: Fear-based teachings may lead individuals to believe in external threats, contributing to heightened levels of paranoia.
Dehumanization through Demonization: Definition: The process of viewing individuals as less than human due to perceived demonic influences. Application: Labeling others as "demonic" may contribute to dehumanization, hindering empathy and understanding, and does not integrate what is now known about the dissociative spectrum and personality development in the cases of severe prolonged trauma.
Denial-Reinforcing Doctrine: Potential Psychological Term: Denial Mechanism Explanation: A defense mechanism that involves the inability to access underlying truths and realities that may be too painful to acknowledge.
Faith Over Professional Guidance Barrier: Potential Psychological Term: Faith-Based Coping Explanation: Relying on faith and religious beliefs as a primary coping mechanism, often to the exclusion of seeking professional guidance, or trusting the wisdom of the body, and intuition to discover ways in which one can help themselves.
Conspiratorial Teaching Patterns: Potential Psychological Term:
Paranoid Ideation Explanation: The tendency toharbor unfounded suspicions and beliefs that others are plotting against you.
Faith Healing and End-of-Life Care: Observation: Faith healing beliefs impacting medical decisions, such as denying appropriate end-of-life care, in the hope of a miraculous recovery. Application: Illustrates how religious convictions can influence critical medical decisions, sometimes to the detriment of well-informed and compassionate care.
Non-Conformity Self-Hatred Syndrome: Potential Psychological Term: Self-Rejection Phenomenon Explanation: A pattern of self-hatred and a desire for self-harm resulting from perceived failure to conform to a rigid belief system.
Suicidal Ideation due to Belief System
Non-Conformity:
Potential Psychological Term: Faith-Induced Suicidal Ideation
Explanation: Suicidal thoughts arising from the inability to align with and conform to the rules of a religious belief system, and/or align belief systems with other members of the Christian cult.
Veiled Trauma Syndrome (VTS) - Proposed Addition to DSMV
Definition: Veiled Trauma Syndrome (VTS) is a proposed addition to the DSMV to encapsulate the unique challenges faced by individuals within faith-based communities, particularly Christianity, where the structure may inadvertently contribute to the concealment of traumatic experiences, hindering the healing process.
Symptom: Silenced Trauma Dynamics Description: Individuals exhibiting symptoms of Veiled Trauma Syndrome may experience an environment within religious institutions characterized by secrecy and the suppression of traumatic experiences. The absence of societal checks and balances within these structures can lead to a culture of silence, hindering the acknowledgment and validation of trauma.
Behavioral Indicators:
Reluctance or fear to speak about personal traumatic experiences within the religious community.
Avoidance of discussing or acknowledging instances of abuse or victimization within the faith-based context.
Perpetuation of secrecy around traumatic events, often due to perceived consequences or social stigma within the religious community.
Impact on Mental Health:
Hindered healing process as a result of suppressed trauma and the absence of an open discourse.
Increased feelings of isolation and alienation, as individuals may fear judgment or ostracization if they were to disclose their traumatic experiences.
Contributing factor to the perpetuation of predator and prey dynamics within religious contexts.
Note: The inclusion of Veiled Trauma Syndrome in the DSMV is a theoretical proposal and requires extensive research and validation before being considered as an official diagnostic category.
This addition emphasizes the need for recognizing the role of religious structures in shaping the experiences of individuals suffering from trauma-related mental illnesses and advocates for a more comprehensive understanding of faith-based mental health challenges.