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"It's like being absorbed into a group of false, sometimes cruel friends. Cults have the illusion of solidarity, but Stein describes them as a perverse group of deeply lonely individuals who have lost the will and the capacity to make decisions on their own. "You can't confide in anyone in a cult," she says. "If you say, 'There seems to be a problem here,' you will be likely to be punished, so there's nowhere to go. You're scared but you've got nobody else left in your life, so you cling to the very people who are causing you that fear."
That's how cults operate: on a cycle of fear and attachment. It's Stockholm Syndrome, only more insidious and confusing because you feel like you made the choice to join when you started out."
Quoted from
[broadly.vice.com]
A cult studies psychologist named Alexandra Stein has published some
very interesting material describing the exact nature of the personal bonds
that distinguish cult leaders from genuine healers.
Fear is always part of the bond between a cultic leader (or abusive partner) and others.
A Cult Member Turned Expert Explains How Anyone Can Be Brainwashed
Dr. Alexandra Stein was brainwashed by a Marxist-Leninist sect as a young woman. Now she studies them for a living.
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[broadly.vice.com]
How totalism works
The brainwashing methods of isolation, engulfment and fear can lead anyone to a cult. I should know – I was in one
Alexandra Stein
How totalism works
The brainwashing methods of isolation, engulfment and fear can lead anyone to a cult. I should know – I was in one
[aeon.co]
Professor Stein has also published a book:
Terror, Love and Brainwashing by Alexandra Stein
[www.google.com]