One other thing: serious mental discomfort is part of the (de)conversion experience. It is very common for this to be hard and stressful. If you want to ultimately become a well-adjusted atheist, it may help to think of the discomfort as a challenge to overcome, and to consider it a victory when you push through the discomfort.
In the same vein, be forgiving of yourself if you’re not ready for everything all at once (if you don’t want to tell your family you’re not religious, for example.)
It will help to think of leaving religion as a project that takes effort. The fact that sometimes it “feels wrong” or stresses you out is nothing to worry about, any more than the fact that doing work can be hard or stressful. Thinking critically is difficult and can sometimes be heroic.
One other thing: serious mental discomfort is part of the (de)conversion experience. It is very common for this to be hard and stressful. If you want to ultimately become a well-adjusted atheist, it may help to think of the discomfort as a challenge to overcome, and to consider it a victory when you push through the discomfort.
In the same vein, be forgiving of yourself if you’re not ready for everything all at once (if you don’t want to tell your family you’re not religious, for example.)
It will help to think of leaving religion as a project that takes effort. The fact that sometimes it “feels wrong” or stresses you out is nothing to worry about, any more than the fact that doing work can be hard or stressful. Thinking critically is difficult and can sometimes be heroic.