Mental and emotional health in faith deconstruction

This episode discusses the ways that religion and deconstruction can affect our mental health, and why I believe we should prioritize emotional healing before we get too deep into theological arguments. Emotional intelligence skills can help us mediate our biases and get better at critical thinking. But more importantly, our psychological well-being is too important to be treated like collateral damage to theology debates. That’s how churches sometimes treat us, but that’s not how healthy spirituality works.

I share some of my own experience working through mental health struggles from deconstruction including healing a childhood trauma in therapy, and I offer some insights from scholarly research around topics like mindfulness and emotions. The resources I share in the episode are listed below:

If you are having thoughts of suicide and are in the United States, call or text the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or visit https://988lifeline.org

Crisis resources in other countries: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_suicide_crisis_lines

Stress and coping resources: https://nowmattersnow.org

LGBTQ support: https://thetrevorproject.org

Support for new parents: https://postpartum.net

Veteran resources for PTSD and other rehabilitative needs: https://woundedwarriorproject.org

Substance abuse: https://samhsa.gov or 1-800-662-HELP.

The Holy Hurt podcast about spiritual trauma and healing: https://holyhurtpodcast.com/