No. I think I was more relieved than anything. No more kissing up to a god who supposedly died for my sins when I did nothing cause I wasn’t even born that time ago or always worrying about the damn devil, doing something wrong and going to hell. Now I just laugh at hell cause how ridiculous it is and also laugh at the pathetic man invented excuse for a god.

Yes but not from leaving religion, from the people in school and the town that bullied and shunned me for it

And I find it rude for you to belittle someone for possibly suffering trauma in this situation.

I just became angry at being lied to for so long. Then I became angry at people who can't or won't see the lies and come to the truth that is science.

Hell no! It was a huge weight off my shoulders. I felt alive.

Going from religious & active in the church to agnostic was rough for me. Spent years beating myself up for my lack of faith. Then one day I realized that I was actually a full fledged atheist. That was a huge weight off my shoulders & I've felt great ever since!

I felt like the FOG (Fear, Obligation & Guilt) was lifted.

Quite the opposite.

I grew up as a presbyterian - was a fanatic as a teen as I was trying understand my dysfunctional family's behaviors/government/society's behavior, etc. Kept noticing the contradictions and got into many arguments with a lot of people through out the years. Took some Philosophy of Religion classed and met a lot of agnostics/atheists along the way. When I finally dropped religion in my 30's - I went into a panic mode because I was so used to praying to god. It took me several years to get used to not praying. Finally over the years, I noticed some conflicting information and switched to Scientific Pantheist. Felt much better once I embraced this as it validated my inner promptings/observation of life. It is a real "loss" of identity & "support system" and it's confusing and scary for some people with a dramatic change of "lifestyle" or mentality. I felt very alone. I wasn't depressed but panicky as I felt I lost a "friend" but learned I need a compassionate living breathing sane human friends for real moral support.

Quite the opposite. My depression all but disappeared when I let go of the idea of there being some master plan that was in charge of my life.

No, but l did stay in a Holiday Inn. That line is like "That's what she said," it works for so many things. ?

I was never really part of any religion, moving around the world I had different religious majorities surrounding me.. but there has been times I couldn’t help but wonder “would I be accepted more by the society if I was part of a religious group? Would I be less lonely?” Not the fact that -I no longer had the help/healing of prayers-.. I mean I’ve been getting shit done on my own as long as I can remember, I never feel the absence of an invisible helper but at times I feel like I’m discriminated because I don’t hide my identity, and the fact people who were once surrounding me would vanish after they “find out” does hurt every now and then.

I can imagine that lots do, because their source of feel-good hormones that resulted from their delusion have been removed. It's not much different from a drug addiction.

I'm certain that many people suffer in such a way in these circumstances. I am also certain that it is a result of having relied on reasoning pattern that we are both taught and intuit: cause-effect. We grow up believing that every action or situation is the effect of a cause, and if one were to sit down and begin to trace that chain of relationships, one inevitably arrives at the conclusion that the chain must go on and on and on, ad infinitum, so at that point the mind tries to simplify by concluding that there must be one, priime cause for everything, thus allowing us to be satisfied with something we can deal with. For billions of prople that prime mover, the cause of everything, even the outcome of athletic contests, is believed to be God, who is given numerous other names by different peoples. Soon after this conclusion, we begin to ascribe everything to this mystical entity, believing that every aspect of or lives is somehow controlled by this God. Ultimately, this leads to the abandonment of wat is commonly referred to as "self-reliance," in favor of both crediting and blaming everything to this mystical force that , in point of fact, have actually created and to whom we have put off on every part and portion even of our daily lives. When one discovers the truth of this situation, it involves having suddenly to take responsibility for one's life, a daunting task indeed. Not having that ultimate cause to fall back on is a hard pill to swallow. It is a natural feature of human nature to try to shift responsibility from themselves to someone or some thing outside oneself. Infinity is not so easy to deal with, so human beings intuitvely look for something to tidy up the problem. thus we come up such ideas as, "everything happens for a reason." Losing that "crutch" can understandably result in feeling depressed, confused, and looking for something to replace the old beliefs. As The great, Greek playwright and philosopher, Sophocles, wrote, “Fear? What has a man to do with fear? Chance rules our lives, and the future is all unknown. Best live as we may, from day to day.”

I feel free and happy.

Absolutely NOT. I felt totally liberated. I was suicidal towards the end of my religious period, due to the bullying that I was dealing with in high school. Becoming atheist helped me get past that. I figured out that god wasn't going to do anything about it and it was up to me to figure out how to escape from my first hs and improve my life. At that time, a classmate who I actually considered to be nice died in a car crash; and, I recall thinking that if I was to commit suicide that the jerks I hated there would be celebrating and the people who cared would be upset. I left religion never turning back! It was the best decision I've ever made!

I received a PTSD diagnosis yesterday. I'm still digesting it. When I went back over everything, I think it may be something called CPTSD and it may be in fact from how hard it as to leave religion

I deff think stress. Family issues, long time friends....raising a child with a mother that is a barely functioning/educated Catholic. I think it was too gradual for me to be trama. Maybe if I were younger when it happened.

Yes. I had to take depression medicine for a while, for the first time in my life. I went through a tailspin phrase, for sure.

Perhaps a little despondent, but I wouldn't be too quick to label it as depression.

Didn't last too long. A few months of pondering reality and the lack of a god.

The hardest part about leaving religion is that humans are social animals that evolved in groups for safety and security. Leaving a group, or losing your place in a group is a major life change and goes against our animal instincts to stay with the group.

Thus, most of your depression can be lifted by findign another group where you are welcome and accepted for who you are. Or, you could go on and boild a life where you are atonomous and dont' need others to fee secure. That takes much longer and a lot more effort.

For quick fixes, to fulfill social needs, in group interactions, meetup.com is a place tolook for people with similar interests, including agnostic/atheist groups.

Anyway, it is important to identify that your depression is is mostly caused by your loss of place within the group you left. Once you know the problemit is easier to find a workable solution to remedy the problem.

No, relationships made me depressed.

It was easier "knowing" there was an afterlife. Being mortal kinda sucks when I dwell on it.

I didn't have a dramatic Damascus Road experience (in reverse) when I became an atheist. It just happened naturally as I grew up.

NO. I felt great relief and giddy joy.