In this fourth installment in a series of blog posts on misconceptions and misunderstandings of spiritual abuse, Michael Kruger addresses the claim that spiritual abuse is not as harmful as other kinds of abuse, and that victims of spiritual abuse are probably just overly sensitive. Kruger argues that this claim is based on a number of inaccurate assumptions, and that spiritual abuse can actually be quite harmful, both physically and emotionally. He cites research indicating that spiritual abuse can lead to a number of problems, including depression, anxiety, and physical/health problems consistent with PTSD-like events. Kruger also argues that spiritual abuse can have a significant impact on a victim's relational life and spiritual life and that understanding the damage caused by spiritual abuse can help motivate churches to do something about it.
Here is a brief excerpt from Kruger's Article:
In anticipation of the Nov 1st release of my new book, Bully Pulpit: Confronting the Problem of Spiritual Abuse in the Church, I am making my way through a 5-part blog series on misconceptions and misunderstandings of spiritual abuse. You can read prior installments here, here, and here.We come now...
You can read the full article here