Honest feedback, your experience doesnt sound typical. I'm glad you take your life more seriously but i really think it has more to do with you than your former/current beliefs.
As for depression, glad thats fixed. I hope the fix is permanent. Some of the causes of depression in some people are physical as you well know. Don't be ashamed of taking medication if you have to; my cousin is a vice president of a medium sized american company and she takes meds for depression.
You've mentioned abuse? I hope you are dealing with that in a postive way; e.g., joinging a peer group or getting some counceling.
Best luck on going back to school and with your family.
When I first came to this forum last summer, I was in crisis. Due to my deconversion, I found myself in the middle of a deep depression where I would drag myself through my day, and I had such a hard time getting much sleep. You guys were here for me. The members of my (former) megachurch had convinced me that life away from Christ was desolate, empty agony.
Wow, that is excessive.
I even believed at one point that I would rather die than give up God. However, upon conversing with some of you, I realized that it was possible to live a fulfilling life without any kind of god at the center of it.
If I had a company, I' hire your mega church for my marketing team!!! They are apparently very good at selling b.s.
Today, I am a much healthier person, physically and psychologically. I lost 10 lbs (yay!) because I was able to stop abusing my body from eating too much junk food (as a Christian I had thought that only the afterlife truly matters). I was able to deal with my depression and anxiety (runs in my family, and was triggered by childhood abuse that I suffered) without any medication anymore by taking control of my own life.
Depression/anxiety has a variety of causes. Everybody gets both to some extent.
If yours doesn't require medication that's great.
No longer did I have to deal with the intense pressures and worries of trying to fit into the mold of "God's plan" or "God's will," so I was able to just be myself and figure out how to be comfortable in my own skin. I realized that although I love taking care of my husband and son at home,
When I was in church, I didn't notice too many people getting "stressed" by the God's plan thing. In fact, my former church was pretty supportive. However, you
that I did not have to limit myself just because I am female, so I went back to school.
Again, that doesn't ride with my experience. Your church must have been particularly backward. The church I went to had women who were Phd's, managers and successful accountants.
In retrospect, I realize how much Christianity truly hurt me throughout my childhood and early adulthood. It limits your potential to grow emotionally, intellectually and socially as a human being due to its prejudices and traditions. Atheism did not turn me into a devil-worshipping, baby-eating witch. Honestly, I have more mental clarity as an atheist than I ever did as a Christian.
I wouldn't blame Christianity here per se. Lots of Christians live perfectly ordinary lives without being stuck with stone age values. That said, perhaps your church and/or your family were particularly conservative.
I think the world would be a much more loving and fair place if there were less Christians in it.
This would be true if your experience were universal. It isn't.
Truth is, there are lots of very informed Christians who lives very fullfilling lives and some of their women are even successful.
Although I have reached a point where I am not angry at Christians or threatened by them unless they get in my face, I do think that, ironically, the words of Jesus actually apply to them: "they know not what they do." A Christian has to cherry-pick Bible verses and be (at least somewhat willfully) ignorant of ones that do not make sense in the real world. That being said, I do generally have compassion for them (unless they pick a fight or do something outrageous or unfair) because they are like fearful children clinging to their belief in Santa Claus. I do not say that in spite, because I feel a great sense of peace regarding my deconversion, and my bitterness toward Christians has faded. I will, however, express my disgust for that fictional character called "God," and anyone who does terrible things in his name.
I think you should get out more and meet more people.
No offense but some Christians are rather normal. For the most part, there isn't a huge difference between Christians and atheists in the US as far as I know.