Can church be bad for your health?

[Aquila]

Originally Posted by nahkoe

I would suggest the person in question to be very cautious of EMDR. I'm guessing that's the rapid eye movement treatment that you mentioned.

As for the rest, I have panic attacks at church and I'm rather a mess the rest of the day. I don't think the diagnosis is too much of a stretch. I've gone back and forth between going regularly and avoiding church over the last several years. I wish there was an easy answer for stuff like this.

Just a question, why would you advise a person be very cautious of EMDR? I'm just curious and gathering information. When it comes to this sort of thing I'm not an expert. Your thoughts are valued.

I know what you mean. I've experienced very similar things. I came from an ultra conservative back ground. We were dangled over Hell over the slightest "infraction" against the "standards", many of which were unbiblical. I've also experienced the mind control games of infallible leadership. Without going too deeply with my experiences there, it was very painful. Sometimes I leave church in a very bad emotional state and have to stay away for several weeks to regain my sense of stability.

Things like this are very difficult. Especially when so many seem to think that church is a beautiful experience for everyone.

[nahkoe]

Originally Posted by Aquila

Just a question, why would you advise a person be very cautious of EMDR? I'm just curious and gathering information. When it comes to this sort of thing I'm not an expert. Your thoughts are valued.

When I tried this, I had a most unpleasant reaction to the whole thing. I don't know why, my provider has no idea, and because of the trauma that the experience caused I never did pursue any further explanation, I just ran. For some reason, I had vivid, horrible, intense, REAL as life nightmares after my first treatment. They were, in a lot of ways, more real than reality. There are no words to describe what I saw, smelled, touched and experienced.

I wouldn't even have connected the eye movement in your post and this, except that these images have been creeping back into my dreams lately. Not like they were then, just around the edges, hazy, but enough that they've jarred me again and are causing me some issues.

I have friends who have used EMDR and have been thrilled with the results. I just don't know why it works so well for them and it left me in far worse condition than I was in before. I was practicing witchcraft at the time, but so were some of my friends who tried it. Because of my experience, I suggest caution and much study when approaching this sort of treatment option. I suppose it's like medications, they can be very effective but can also bring side effects with them. If I had been aware of what could have happened, I probably would have tried EMDR anyhow, but at least I could have been prepared for the possibility.

[Aquila]

Originally Posted by nahkoe

When I tried this, I had a most unpleasant reaction to the whole thing. I don't know why, my provider has no idea, and because of the trauma that the experience caused I never did pursue any further explanation, I just ran. For some reason, I had vivid, horrible, intense, REAL as life nightmares after my first treatment. They were, in a lot of ways, more real than reality. There are no words to describe what I saw, smelled, touched and experienced.

I wouldn't even have connected the eye movement in your post and this, except that these images have been creeping back into my dreams lately. Not like they were then, just around the edges, hazy, but enough that they've jarred me again and are causing me some issues.

I have friends who have used EMDR and have been thrilled with the results. I just don't know why it works so well for them and it left me in far worse condition than I was in before. I was practicing witchcraft at the time, but so were some of my friends who tried it. Because of my experience, I suggest caution and much study when approaching this sort of treatment option. I suppose it's like medications, they can be very effective but can also bring side effects with them. If I had been aware of what could have happened, I probably would have tried EMDR anyhow, but at least I could have been prepared for the possibility.

Wow. Thanks for sharing. I fully understand why you'd caution people about this.

[rgcraig]

Originally Posted by nahkoe

When I tried this, I had a most unpleasant reaction to the whole thing. I don't know why, my provider has no idea, and because of the trauma that the experience caused I never did pursue any further explanation, I just ran. For some reason, I had vivid, horrible, intense, REAL as life nightmares after my first treatment. They were, in a lot of ways, more real than reality. There are no words to describe what I saw, smelled, touched and experienced.

I wouldn't even have connected the eye movement in your post and this, except that these images have been creeping back into my dreams lately. Not like they were then, just around the edges, hazy, but enough that they've jarred me again and are causing me some issues.

I have friends who have used EMDR and have been thrilled with the results. I just don't know why it works so well for them and it left me in far worse condition than I was in before. I was practicing witchcraft at the time, but so were some of my friends who tried it. Because of my experience, I suggest caution and much study when approaching this sort of treatment option. I suppose it's like medications, they can be very effective but can also bring side effects with them. If I had been aware of what could have happened, I probably would have tried EMDR anyhow, but at least I could have been prepared for the possibility.

I had heard of this happening before too.

Found this:

Precautions in EMDR therapy:

There are specific procedures to be followed depending on the client’s presenting problem, emotional stability, medical condition, and other factors. Specifically, the following may occur:

•Distressing, unresolved memories might surface through the use of the EMDR procedure.
•Some clients have experienced reactions during the treatment sessions that neither they nor the administering clinician may have anticipated, including a high level of emotion or physical sensations.
•Subsequent to the treatment session, the processing of incidents or material may continue, and other dreams, memories, flashbacks, feelings, etc., may surface.
•Memories of past events targeted for EMDR treatment may be altered (clarity of memory may either be experienced as decreased or enhanced, while associated emotion may be greatly decreased).

[Aquila]

Originally Posted by rgcraig

I had heard of this happening before too.

Found this:

Precautions in EMDR therapy:

There are specific procedures to be followed depending on the client’s presenting problem, emotional stability, medical condition, and other factors. Specifically, the following may occur:

•Distressing, unresolved memories might surface through the use of the EMDR procedure.
•Some clients have experienced reactions during the treatment sessions that neither they nor the administering clinician may have anticipated, including a high level of emotion or physical sensations.
•Subsequent to the treatment session, the processing of incidents or material may continue, and other dreams, memories, flashbacks, feelings, etc., may surface.
•Memories of past events targeted for EMDR treatment may be altered (clarity of memory may either be experienced as decreased or enhanced, while associated emotion may be greatly decreased).

Wow. When they say that such therapies may have "undesirable effects" they're not kidding.