Skip to main content

HIV denial

Raul and Juan died from HIV denial. They believe the Advocate's crappy science that no poofers ever gets AIDS.
by queensburykid March 26, 2024
mugGet the HIV denial mug.

Atheist Trauma Denial

The reflexive dismissal, minimization, or gaslighting directed at individuals reporting Atheist Trauma Syndrome. It employs tactics like claiming "atheism is just a lack of belief, it can't cause trauma," blaming the victim for being "too sensitive" or "illogical," or accusing them of secretly wanting their "comforting delusions" back. This denial protects the self-image of atheist communities as purely rational and benign, refusing to acknowledge that communities built around any identity, including a non-belief identity, can cultivate abusive power dynamics and inflict real harm.
Example: A person shares in an online space that a famous atheist speaker's relentless, mocking rhetoric triggered a depressive episode and existential terror. The response is flooded with comments like, "Truth hurts, snowflake," "You're just mad your sky-daddy got called out," and "This isn't trauma, it's cognitive dissonance. Grow up." The denial pathologizes the normal human response to social aggression and frames cruelty as a necessary part of intellectual enlightenment. Atheist Trauma Denial.
by Dumuabzu January 25, 2026
mugGet the Atheist Trauma Denial mug.
A more specific, clinical-sounding form of Atheist Trauma Denial that actively disputes the syndromic nature of the injury. It argues that the collection of symptoms (anxiety, identity disturbance, hypervigilance) does not constitute a legitimate psychological syndrome because it originates from a "rational" source (criticism of religion). This denial often comes from those with a simplistic, hyper-rationalist view of the mind, rejecting the well-established principle that the manner of discourse—not just its factual content—can be pathogenic, especially when it involves manipulation, verbal abuse, and social ostracization.
Example: A therapist identifies a client's symptoms as consistent with complex trauma stemming from prolonged harassment in an atheist activist group. An online commentator, citing the client's story, writes a lengthy blog post titled "The 'Atheist Trauma Syndrome' Myth," arguing that what's described is merely "education-induced discomfort" and that recognizing it as a syndrome medicalizes healthy skepticism and protects religious fragility. This denies the client's lived reality by imposing an ideological filter over their psychological diagnosis. Atheist Trauma Syndrome Denial.
by Dumuabzu January 25, 2026
mugGet the Atheist Trauma Syndrome Denial mug.

Scientific Trauma Denial

The widespread refusal within scientific and science-adjacent communities to acknowledge that their social practices can cause psychological harm. It manifests in mantras like "science isn't a safe space," "facts don't care about your feelings," and "if you can't handle the debate, get out of the lab." This denial confounds the content of science with the often-toxic culture of its human practitioners, using the nobility of the former to excuse the abuses of the latter. It protects the power structures of the in-group by framing all criticism of its social dynamics as an attack on empiricism itself.
Example: When a researcher publicly details the bullying and harassment they endured from a senior scientist, institutional defenders respond not by investigating the behavior, but by writing op-eds about "the fragility of the current generation" and warning against letting "emotional concerns" undermine "rigorous skepticism." The harm is dismissed as the necessary price of doing tough, important work. This denial allows abusive behavior to continue unchecked, wrapped in the flag of scientific integrity. Scientific Trauma Denial.
by Dumuabzu January 25, 2026
mugGet the Scientific Trauma Denial mug.
A targeted form of Scientific Trauma Denial that specifically disputes the validity of recognizing a "syndrome." It argues that pathologizing the distress caused by scientific conflict medicalizes normal academic adversity and creates a victim mentality that will stifle progress. This denial often comes from those in positions of epistemic security, who have never faced existential threat to their scientific identity, and thus cannot conceive of the cumulative psychological impact of constant defensive warfare, character assassination, and credibility policing on those with less secure standing.
Example: A panel discusses mental health in academia. A young scholar describes symptoms of Scientific Trauma Syndrome—panic, alienation, burnout. An established professor on the panel retorts, "What you're calling a 'syndrome' is just the stress of being wrong in a competitive field. We've all been through it. Calling it a medical condition is a cop-out that lowers standards." This denial invalidates the individual's clinical reality, reframing a health issue as a moral failing of resilience, thus perpetuating the conditions that cause the trauma. Scientific Trauma Syndrome Denial.
by Dumuabzu January 25, 2026
mugGet the Scientific Trauma Syndrome Denial mug.
The insistence that the aggressive combat against pseudoscience can never be traumatic because it is "on the right side of truth." This denial claims that any distress felt by targets is merely the deserved consequence of believing falsehoods, or a manipulative tactic to avoid criticism. It fundamentally rejects the principle that the method of critique matters, asserting that protecting people from the emotional consequences of being "wrong" is itself antiscientific. This creates a moral carte blanche for harassment.
Example: After a public shaming campaign drives a person targeted as a "pseudoscience promoter" to a mental health crisis, the campaign's leader states, "We didn't cause trauma. We presented facts. If their fragile worldview can't handle facts, that's a them problem. Calling our activism 'trauma' is just a pseudoscientific tactic to silence scrutiny." The denial here absolves the activists of all responsibility for the human impact of their coordinated social violence. Anti-Pseudoscience Trauma Denial.
by Dumuabzu January 25, 2026
mugGet the Anti-Pseudoscience Trauma Denial mug.
The specific rejection of the syndromic classification of this trauma. Deniers argue that grouping these psychological effects into a "syndrome" legitimizes pseudoscientific beliefs by framing their defenders as patients rather than opponents. They contend it medicalizes a social debate and provides a shield of victimhood for bad actors. This denial is a strategic refusal to allow the human cost of anti-pseudoscience activism to be part of the ethical calculus, ensuring the fight remains "pure" and unconstrained by concerns over psychological harm.
Example: A psychologist publishes a case study detailing the PTSD symptoms in a client who was the subject of a vicious anti-pseudoscience mob. Prominent skeptics dismiss the paper, not by engaging the clinical observations, but by asserting, "This 'syndrome' is a fiction created by the pseudo-community to pathologize their critics. Now they want us to feel guilty for defending science? This is the ultimate pseudoscience—medicalizing their own failure to argue effectively." The denial protects the activists' self-image as noble warriors, incapable of inflicting illegitimate injury. Anti-Pseudoscience Trauma Syndrome Denial.
by Dumuabzu January 25, 2026
mugGet the Anti-Pseudoscience Trauma Syndrome Denial mug.

Share this definition

Sign in to vote

We'll email you a link to sign in instantly.

Or

Check your email

We sent a link to

Open your email