Religious Addiction: Definition, Symptoms, Causes, Effects, and Treatment

Religious addiction is a toxic relationship with religion characterized by obsessive-compulsive religious practices and beliefs. An individual with religious addiction has rigid spiritual beliefs, judges others, prays compulsively, and prefers to stay in isolation.
Religious addiction originates from following religious leaders, using religion as a source of escape from painful realities, and genetic and neurotransmitter imbalance. These causes lead to religious addiction, which affects the physical and mental health of the religious addict. The religious addict can show physical effects like headaches, hypertension, and obesity, and mental effects like anxiety, spiritual despair, and delusions.
The treatment types of religious addiction include therapy and faith-based addiction therapy. Both of these treatment types have a similar goal, i.e., to get rid of unhealthy and toxic beliefs while respecting the patient’s religious beliefs.
What is Religious addiction?
Religious addiction is a process to escape and control painful realities and feelings in one’s life, as defined by Matthew Linn, Sheila Fabricant Linn, and Dennis Linn in their book ‘Healing Spiritual Abuse and Religious Addiction’.
Religious addiction is also defined as a religious belief that lessens one’s appreciation and ability to deal with life problems or lessens one’s reliance on oneself, according to Thomas W. Roberts, a Professor Emeritus at San Diego State University.
What is the difference between Religious addiction and spiritual belief?
The difference between religious addiction and spiritual belief is that religious addiction is obsessive faith and unhealthy religiosity, whereas spiritual belief is a belief in a realm and deity beyond the visible world.
Individuals with religious addiction obsess over spiritual rules, judge others, and neglect social responsibilities. Contrarily, individuals with spiritual beliefs believe in a deity and follow religious practices to live a meaningful life without negative consequences.
What are the Signs and Symptoms of Religious addiction?
The signs and symptoms of religious addiction are shame-based belief, scrupulosity, judgemental attitude, black-and-white thinking, inability to question, compulsive praying, believing physical pleasures are evil, conflict with science and medicine, isolation, and claim to receive special messages from God, as stated by Leo Booth in his book, ‘When God Becomes a Drug: Breaking the Chains of Religious Addiction & Abuse’ published in 1991.
1. Shame-based belief
Shame-based belief is a feeling of guilt and shame where an individual believes that they are not good enough because of sin. One of the symptoms of religious addiction is a constant state of guilt and shame. Such an individual is trying their best to follow religious practices but feel as if they always fall short.
A study published by Patrick Luyten and his colleagues in Mental Health, Religion & Culture in 2007 found that religious individuals report more guilt feelings and cause maladaptive interpersonal relationships.
2. Scrupulosity
Scrupulosity is a sub-type of obsessive-compulsive disorder involving obsessive faith and unhealthy religiosity. An individual with scrupulosity is preoccupied with religious doubts, obsesses over past sins, and fears committing blasphemy.
A common sign and symptom of religious addiction is scrupulosity, where the individual has recurrent doubts about sinning and transgressing religious rules, according to Jonathan Abramowitz and Ryan Jacoby’s study published in the Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders in 2014.
3. Judgemental attitudes
A judgmental attitude is when an individual quickly forms opinions about others without pondering their thoughts.
Individuals with religious addiction have a judgemental attitude when their opinions are questioned. They feel threatened and call others evil, anti-God or heretics, as written by Leo Booth in his book, ‘When God Becomes a Drug: Breaking the Chains of Religious Addiction & Abuse’.
4. Inability to question
Another sign and symptom of religious addiction is the inability of the individual to question or doubt information or a religious leader. Questioning religious beliefs is a sign of maturity and critical thinking, but blind and obsessive belief is a symptom of religious addiction.
A religious addict submits to and defends any questionable behavior of a religious leader, as stated by Gordon Allport in a review article, “The Individual and his Religion: A Psychological Interpretation.”
5. Compulsive praying
Compulsive praying is a symptom of religious addiction characterized by repeating prayers until it is just right. Compulsive praying is closely related to obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Individuals involved in compulsive praying are critical of their religious actions, especially those who pray regularly, like Muslims and Jews. Muslims and Jews with compulsive praying repeat prayers, constantly check pre-prayer ablution, and are obsessive about physical purification, according to a study published by Jonathan D. Huppert et al. in 2007 in the Journal of Clinical Psychology.
6. Believing physical pleasures are evil
Physical or sexual pleasure is the physical and psychological satisfaction from engaging in erotic experiences and thoughts.
A symptom of religious addiction is that these individuals believe that engaging in physical pleasures of this world, like sex, is dirty and evil, according to a study published by Patricia Anne Vanderheyden in Pastoral Psychology in 1999. Religious addicts restrict their sexual activities and believe that others engaging even in legal sex are impure.
7. Conflict with science and medicine
Religious addicts have conflict with science and medicine in some matters, like the creation of the universe. Although religious belief is a belief in an invisible spiritual realm, negating common science laws shows compulsive behavior.
Individuals with religious addiction homeschool their children to save them from the evil of science and medicine, as mentioned by Leo Booth in his book, ‘When God Becomes a Drug: Breaking the Chains of Religious Addiction & Abuse,’ published in 1991.
8. Isolation
Isolation is a process of shutting away or being away from others.
Religious addicts stay in isolation due to preoccupation with obsessive spiritual thoughts, focus on praying, and conflicts with others. These individuals like to stay alone because they enjoy the spiritual highs after praying, which later on becomes addictive, as mentioned by Stephen Arterburn and Jack Felton in their book “Toxic Faith.”
9. Claiming to receive special messages from God
A severe symptom of religious addiction is to claim that one is receiving a special message from God. Such an individual with religious addiction escapes into fantasy, makes unrealistic demands of others, and engages in magical thinking.
What are the causes of Religious addiction?
The causes of religious addiction are the authority of religious leaders, religious upbringing, escape from reality, genetic predisposition, and the brain’s reward system.
1. Authority of religious leaders
An important cause of religious addiction is blindly following religious leaders and their doctrines. Father Leo Booth wrote in his book that from the fourth century onwards, Christian religious scriptures were not taken as authority. The authority had shifted to bishops, who were seen as Christ’s vessels.
Robert B. Simmonds states in a paper published in the American Behavioral Scientist Journal that an individual gaining knowledge from a charismatic religious leader is likely to have religious addiction.
2. Religious upbringing
One of the causes of religious addiction is religious upbringing. Individuals with religious upbringing are more prone to unhealthy religious following. Richard Swinson et al., in their book, “Obsessive-compulsive Disorder: Theory, Research, and Treatment,” found that individuals with conservative religious upbringing have obsessive and compulsive religious beliefs and actions.
3. Escape from reality
A cause of religious addiction is the feeling of a sense of purpose and control after escaping the painful realities of life through religious practices. The individual stays in the illusion of being in control of their lives while they are just escaping painful realities, states Patricia Anne Vanderheyden in her study published in Pastoral Psychology in 1999.
Trauma at any part of life can draw one towards religion. If religion becomes a means of escape from painful life realities, then it can turn into an addiction.
4. Genetic predisposition
A genetic cause of religious addiction is the presence of allele R in an individual, as found by Robert Rowthorn in his study published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences in 2011. Robert further states that the genetic chances of transferring this allele R increase in religious people because they have more children than secular people.
5. Brain’s Reward System
Addiction to the brain’s reward system can cause religious addiction in conservative religious individuals. According to a paper by Benedict Carey in the NY Times, there was an increase in limbic system activity (increase in emotions) and a decrease in frontal lobe activity (decrease in focus) during religious experiences. An increase in limbic system activity pushes individuals to repeat religious practices to gain pleasure.
What are the effects of Religious addiction?
The effects of religious addiction are psychosomatic illness, guilt and anxiety, and altered brain activity.
1. Psychosomatic illness
Psychosomatic illness involves the occurrence of physical symptoms without a medical explanation.
One of the top effects of religious addiction is psychosomatic illness with physical symptoms like headaches, backaches, hypertension, fatigue, and insomnia, according to Leo Booth. A religious addict with these symptoms remains medically undiagnosed and suffers in silence unless diagnosed by a certified therapist.
2. Guilt and anxiety
Religious addiction affects mental health and causes guilt and anxiety. A person with religious addiction is emotionally weak, has guilt, and aroused anxiety, as stated by James Jones, a professor of religion and a practicing psychotherapist, in his book “In the Middle of This Road We Call Our Life”.
3. Altered brain activity
Religious addiction affects normal brain activity. Submissive and shame-based behavior in religious addiction alters the normal activity of the limbic system and prefrontal cortex. Religious addiction increases emotional feelings by affecting the limbic system and suppresses executive thinking by affecting the prefrontal cortex.
How does Religious addiction affect your physical health?
Religious addiction affects your physical health by causing psychosomatic illness, like backache, headache, hypertension, fatigue, and insomnia, writes Leo Booth in his book. The religious addict further slips his way due to these physical symptoms and develops mental health problems.
Another important physical effect of religious addiction on the body is being overweight, according to Leo Booth. Religious addicts gain weight due to a lack of physical activity because of excessive participation in religious practices and are prone to develop eating disorders due to poor mental health.
How can Religious addiction affect your mental health?
Religious addiction can affect your mental health by causing anxiety disorders through the induction of guilt and fear. Religious addiction and specific anxiety disorders like obsessive-compulsive disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have a close relationship.
Religious addiction induces spiritual despair and delusions among both normal and schizophrenic individuals, according to a study, “Religion, Spirituality, and Schizophrenia: A Review,” published in 2014 in the Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine.
Furthermore, religious addiction leads to rigid thinking in religious matters, which can have negative effects on oneself as well as family ties.
Religious addiction also promotes overdependence on religious rules and laws, and strict ideology adherence discourages personal individuality.
How does Religious addiction affect your brain?
Religious addiction affects your brain by activating the nucleus accumbens (the brain’s reward center) and releasing dopamine, as found by Jeffrey Anderson from the University of Utah in his study ‘Reward, salience, and attentional networks are activated by religious experience in devout Mormons’ published in Social Neuroscience in 2016.
Religious addiction can decrease the executive control and willful behavior of the prefrontal cortex due to submission behavior towards a higher deity, as mentioned by Andrew Newberg et al. in their study published in the Journal of Physiology-Paris in 2015.
What are the types of Religious addiction treatment?
The types of religious addiction treatment are therapy and faith-based addiction recovery. Both therapy and faith-based addiction recovery involve careful treatment while respecting the religious beliefs of the patients. The religious addiction treatment is variable among patients, but it takes at least three months to one year to show positive results.
Therapy
Therapy is a process to get emotional help to fight mental problems.
Religious addiction is treated by continuous therapy given by a certified religious addiction psychologist, as suggested by Doyle through personal communications in a study published in 2002 in Pastoral Psychology.
A religious addict has disorganized thinking, which can be cured by confronting toxic thoughts with a trained therapist. The toxic thoughts include extremes in opinions, excessive judgments, and emotional thinking. Therapy helps religious addicts think positively about others and control their emotions, according to a study by Cheryl Zerbe Taylor in 2002 in Pastoral Psychology.
Faith-Based Addiction Recovery
Faith-based addiction recovery combines traditional addiction treatment with religious beliefs. Traditional addiction treatment involves spiritual beliefs because individuals suffering from addiction have feelings of depression and emptiness. Counselors focus on building a healthy relationship with a higher deity when treating a religious addict.
73% of addiction treatment in the USA includes a spiritual element, which can save up to $316.6 billion for the US economy. 84% of scientific studies show that faith is a positive factor for addiction treatment, and its value for abuse prevention is indisputable, according to a study ‘Belief, Behavior, and Belonging: How Faith is Indispensable in Preventing and Recovering from Substance Abuse’ published in the Journal of Religion and Health in 2019.
Is Religious addiction a type of behavioral addiction?
Yes, religious addiction is a new type of behavioral addiction, according to a paper by Eszter Kovács and Bettina Pikó in Orvosi Hetilap. Religious addiction is a type of behavioral addiction because it includes repeated, compulsive behavior with an inability to stop it.
Is Religious addiction a disease?
Yes, religious addiction is a disease that can destroy families and relationships, according to a study by Cheryl Zerbe Taylor in 2002 in Pastoral Psychology.
Is Religious addiction genetic?
Yes, religious addiction can be genetic, like other types of addiction. Individuals with allele R are more prone to religious addiction than individuals without this allele, as found in a study by Robert Rowthorn published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences in 2011.
Is Religious addiction a disability?
No, religious addiction is not officially a disability. However, it can become a disability if the individual does not fulfill their personal, family, and societal roles and responsibilities.
Is Religious addiction a choice?
No, religious addiction is not a choice. Addictions are mental disorders caused by changes in the brain structure that are not under the willpower of the individual.
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