I can honestly say that I have helped a few to become 'deconstructed' Believers over the last 20+ years or so.
And I'd say that at least 8 out10 of them has found peace, contentment, self-belief, etc, etc, that they never had before.
As for myself, I've been an Atheist even before I knew the word, Atheist, existed, i.e. I started questioning everything and anything I could from almost the word go simply because that is how my father brought me up to be.

I believed for a long time that God was "love" so to love was to experience God.
Consequently there was no reason to exercise caution in matters of love and I'd throw myself all in.
This is dangerous and leads to obsessive behavior.
Love is just an emotion and validates nothing, but in my old religion love validates everything, even horse apples.
Very dangerous for the believer and everyone they interact with.

I used to like the Jesus quote....""Look...I shall make all things new"'' The concept of truly a NEW WORLD was very inspirational. But I know the Bible is NOT the word of God.

1. That nonbelievers and apostates (i.e. me) are inherently evil.

2. That this isn’t the “real life.” That everything in this life is meaningless (with the exception of the preaching work). That I’ll only experience true meaning, joy, love, and fulfillment in Paradise. That any “worldly” pursuits (even charity and humanitarianism) is toiling after the wind.

The first caused literal psychosis in me. Literal hallucinations and disturbing intrusive thoughts. I lost so much sleep that I couldn’t function and had to go part time at work. It took me a long time to deconstruct that one. To this day I still get triggered into shame during flashbacks or when I imagine having a conversation with a friend or relative still in my old religion.

The second is still causing me problems. Congnitively I know it’s bullshit but the inner me still believes it. I have been conditioned to devalue almost anything that normal people find meaning in. I have existential crises on the regular.

I quit going to church at 14 and slowly gave up the belief in a God somewhere in my 20s. I never had a strong enough belief to deconstruct from.

I must admit that I have never heard of deconstruction until this post. What is it exactly?

That if I didn't follow their rules well enough, I would go to hell and not see all the people I love in the afterlife.

And even if I did do it right, there were so many people I loved who didn't, and I wouldn't see them because they would be in hell.

Adjusting to my life being finite to the time I am alive was hard, but freeing.

The most harmful thing I was taught was not to be too intellectual, and to just accept everything the church taught without questioning it. We were just supposed to believe everything on blind faith. In my late 20's, I studied the church's teachings, and found them to be flawed. So I left the church, and am now free to think for myself. I am happier now than I ever was as a religionist.

You have to listen or be polite to religious family members.

I have a strongly religious family. One is Sunni southern Baptist and the other is shiite catholic. Made family reunions a hoot when I was younger.

In the past 10 years, I’ve only seen or talked to my dad and one uncle.

Do your own thing. You won’t change their mind and their goal is to change yours. If they want to argue you or look down on you; Fuckem. If you wait until they really piss you off, there’s less pain and more joy in it than you’d think.

Deconstruction?

"God will cast you into Hell if you even question His existence."

I learned to think for myself, and I realised that my tormentor was a vile shit.

It has also made me a vocal anti-theist.