How to Recognize and Avoid Brainwashing
Understand that those who attempt to brainwash others tend to prey upon the weak and vulnerable., Be aware of people who try to isolate you or someone you know from outside influences., Watch for attacks on the victim’s self-esteem., Look out for...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Understand that those who attempt to brainwash others tend to prey upon the weak and vulnerable.
Not everyone is a target for mind control, but certain people are more susceptible to forms of it at different times.
A skillful manipulator knows what to look for and targets people who are going through a difficult period in their life or a change that may or may not be of their own making.
Possible candidates include:
People who have lost their jobs and fear for their future.
Recently divorced people, particularly when the divorce was a bitter one.Those suffering from lingering illness, especially one they don’t understand.
People who have lost a loved one, particularly if they were very close to that person and had few other friends.
Young people away from home for the first time.
These are particular favorites of religious cult leaders.One particular predatory tactic is to find out enough information about the person and his or her belief system to explain the tragedy the person has experiencing in a manner consistent with that belief system.
This can later be expanded to explain history in general through that belief system, while subtly modifying it to the brainwasher’s interpretation. -
Step 2: Be aware of people who try to isolate you or someone you know from outside influences.
As people who are experiencing a personal tragedy or other major life change are inclined to feel lonely, a skillful brain-washer works to amplify those feelings of loneliness.
This isolation can take several forms.
For young people in a cult, it may be preventing them from contacting their friends and family members.
For a significant other in an abusive relationship, it may mean never letting the victim out of the abuser’s sight or permitting contact with family and friends.
For prisoners in an enemy prison camp, it may involve isolating prisoners from one another while subjecting them to subtle or overt forms of torture. , Brainwashing only works when the brainwasher is in a superior position to the victim.
This means that the victim has to be broken down, so the brainwasher can rebuild the victim in his or her image.
This can be done through mental, emotional, or ultimately physical means for long enough to physical and emotionally wear down the target.
Mental tortures may begin with lying to the victim and then progress to embarrassing or intimidating the victim.
This form of torture can be done with words or gestures ranging from an expression of disapproval to invading the victim’s personal space.
Emotional tortures are not kind, of course, but may begin with verbal insults, then progress to badgering, spitting, or more dehumanizing things such as stripping the victim to be photographed or just looked at.
Physical tortures may include starvation, freezing, sleep deprivation, beatings, mutilations, and others, none are acceptable in society..
Physical torture is commonly used by abusive parents and spouses, as well as in prison and “re-education” camps. , Along with wearing down the victim’s resistance, it’s important to provide a seemingly more attractive alternative to what the victim has known before contact with the brainwasher.
This can be done through a variety of methods:
Allowing contact only with others who have already been brainwashed.
This creates a form of peer pressure that encourages the new victim to want to be like and be accepted by the new group.
This may be reinforced through touch, rap sessions, or group sex, or by stricter means such as a uniform dress code, controlled diet, or other rigid rules.
Repetition of the message through means ranging from singing or chanting the same phrases over and over, often emphasizing certain key words or phrases.
Mimicking the rhythm of the human heartbeat through the thought leader’s speech cadence or musical accompaniment.
This can be enhanced with lighting that’s not too dim or too harsh and a room temperature to encourage relaxation.
Never letting the victim have time to think.
This can mean simply never letting the victim have time alone, or it can mean bombarding the victim with repeated lectures on topics beyond comprehension, while discouraging questions.
Presenting an “us vs. them” mentality where the thought leader is right and the outside world is wrong.
The goal is to achieve blind obedience, to where the victim will commit his or her money and life to the brainwasher and his or her stated goals., This can take anywhere from a few weeks to several years, depending on the circumstances of the brainwashing.
An extreme form of this complacency is known as the Stockholm syndrome, where two bank robbers in Sweden in 1973 held four hostages for a period of 131 hours.
After the hostages were rescued, they found themselves identifying with their captors, to the point that one of the women became engaged to her captor and another set up a legal defense fund for the criminals.Patty Hearst, kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army in 1974, is also considered a victim of Stockholm syndrome., Much of the retraining is done through some of the same operant conditioning techniques of reward and punishment that were used to break the victim down in the first place.
Positive experiences are now used to reward the victim for thinking as the brainwasher desires, while negative experiences are used to punish the last vestiges of disobedience.
One form of reward is giving the victim a new name.
This is commonly associated with cults, but the SLA also did this with Patty Hearst when they gave her the name “Tania.” , Although brainwashing can be effective and thorough, most brainwashers find it necessary to test the depths of their control over their subjects.
Control can be tested in several ways, depending on the brainwasher’s goals, with the results determining how much reinforcement the victim needs to remain brainwashed.
Extorting money is one way to test control, as well as enrich the brainwasher’s pockets.
Psychic medium Rose Marks used her control over author Jude Deveraux to bilk Deveraux out of $17 million in cash and property while ruining the writer’s career. .Committing criminal acts, either with or for the brainwasher, is another.
Patty Hearst accompanying the SLA on one of their robberies is an example of this. , Brainwashing victims can appear focused on the group and or its leader to the point of obsession.
At the same time, they seem to be unable to solve problems without the help of the group or its leader. , They may also withdraw from people who don’t share their interest in the brainwasher. , Brainwashing victims tend to be listless, withdrawn, and devoid of whatever personality marked them before they were brainwashed.This is particularly noticeable in both cult victims and spouses in an abusive relationship.
Some victims may internalize their anger, leading to depression and a host of physical disorders, possibly even to suicide.
Others may vent their anger on anyone they see as the cause of their problems, often through verbal or physical confrontation. , This realization is often accompanied by denial and anguish, as the subject begins to question things without having had practice in questioning things.
Gradually, the subject should become aware of how he or she was manipulated. , Exposure to multiple options, without overwhelming the subject with too many options at once, will provide the subject with a new, broader perspective from which to challenge the beliefs implanted by the brainwasher.
Some of these contrasting ideas may, in themselves, come with their own forms of manipulation.
In such cases, it’s helpful to also seek out as unbiased forms of those ideas as possible.A stronger form of this exposure is to force the subject to relive the brainwashing experience by having him or her act it out, but providing the subject with options to counteract the brainwashing.
This type of therapy requires a therapist skilled in psychodrama techniques. , At first, the subject may become anxious about making decisions for himself or herself or feel ashamed about making the “wrong” decision now or in the past.
With practice, however, this anxiety will fade. -
Step 3: Watch for attacks on the victim’s self-esteem.
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Step 4: Look out for those who try to make being “part of the group” more attractive than the outside world.
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Step 5: Recognize that brainwashers often offer rewards when the victim has “turned.” Once the victim is completely broken and complacent
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Step 6: he or she can then be retrained.
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Step 7: Recognize new ways of thinking in the victim’s brain.
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Step 8: Rinse and repeat.
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Step 9: Look for a mixture of fanaticism and dependency.
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Step 10: Look for a “yes person.” Brainwashing victims will agree unquestioningly with whatever their group or leader dictates
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Step 11: without any regard to the difficulty of following in lockstep or the consequences of doing so.
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Step 12: Look for signs of withdrawal from life.
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Step 13: Make the subject aware that he or she has been brainwashed.
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Step 14: Expose the subject to ideas that contradict the brainwashing.
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Step 15: Encourage the subject to make his or her own decisions based upon the new information.
Detailed Guide
Not everyone is a target for mind control, but certain people are more susceptible to forms of it at different times.
A skillful manipulator knows what to look for and targets people who are going through a difficult period in their life or a change that may or may not be of their own making.
Possible candidates include:
People who have lost their jobs and fear for their future.
Recently divorced people, particularly when the divorce was a bitter one.Those suffering from lingering illness, especially one they don’t understand.
People who have lost a loved one, particularly if they were very close to that person and had few other friends.
Young people away from home for the first time.
These are particular favorites of religious cult leaders.One particular predatory tactic is to find out enough information about the person and his or her belief system to explain the tragedy the person has experiencing in a manner consistent with that belief system.
This can later be expanded to explain history in general through that belief system, while subtly modifying it to the brainwasher’s interpretation.
As people who are experiencing a personal tragedy or other major life change are inclined to feel lonely, a skillful brain-washer works to amplify those feelings of loneliness.
This isolation can take several forms.
For young people in a cult, it may be preventing them from contacting their friends and family members.
For a significant other in an abusive relationship, it may mean never letting the victim out of the abuser’s sight or permitting contact with family and friends.
For prisoners in an enemy prison camp, it may involve isolating prisoners from one another while subjecting them to subtle or overt forms of torture. , Brainwashing only works when the brainwasher is in a superior position to the victim.
This means that the victim has to be broken down, so the brainwasher can rebuild the victim in his or her image.
This can be done through mental, emotional, or ultimately physical means for long enough to physical and emotionally wear down the target.
Mental tortures may begin with lying to the victim and then progress to embarrassing or intimidating the victim.
This form of torture can be done with words or gestures ranging from an expression of disapproval to invading the victim’s personal space.
Emotional tortures are not kind, of course, but may begin with verbal insults, then progress to badgering, spitting, or more dehumanizing things such as stripping the victim to be photographed or just looked at.
Physical tortures may include starvation, freezing, sleep deprivation, beatings, mutilations, and others, none are acceptable in society..
Physical torture is commonly used by abusive parents and spouses, as well as in prison and “re-education” camps. , Along with wearing down the victim’s resistance, it’s important to provide a seemingly more attractive alternative to what the victim has known before contact with the brainwasher.
This can be done through a variety of methods:
Allowing contact only with others who have already been brainwashed.
This creates a form of peer pressure that encourages the new victim to want to be like and be accepted by the new group.
This may be reinforced through touch, rap sessions, or group sex, or by stricter means such as a uniform dress code, controlled diet, or other rigid rules.
Repetition of the message through means ranging from singing or chanting the same phrases over and over, often emphasizing certain key words or phrases.
Mimicking the rhythm of the human heartbeat through the thought leader’s speech cadence or musical accompaniment.
This can be enhanced with lighting that’s not too dim or too harsh and a room temperature to encourage relaxation.
Never letting the victim have time to think.
This can mean simply never letting the victim have time alone, or it can mean bombarding the victim with repeated lectures on topics beyond comprehension, while discouraging questions.
Presenting an “us vs. them” mentality where the thought leader is right and the outside world is wrong.
The goal is to achieve blind obedience, to where the victim will commit his or her money and life to the brainwasher and his or her stated goals., This can take anywhere from a few weeks to several years, depending on the circumstances of the brainwashing.
An extreme form of this complacency is known as the Stockholm syndrome, where two bank robbers in Sweden in 1973 held four hostages for a period of 131 hours.
After the hostages were rescued, they found themselves identifying with their captors, to the point that one of the women became engaged to her captor and another set up a legal defense fund for the criminals.Patty Hearst, kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army in 1974, is also considered a victim of Stockholm syndrome., Much of the retraining is done through some of the same operant conditioning techniques of reward and punishment that were used to break the victim down in the first place.
Positive experiences are now used to reward the victim for thinking as the brainwasher desires, while negative experiences are used to punish the last vestiges of disobedience.
One form of reward is giving the victim a new name.
This is commonly associated with cults, but the SLA also did this with Patty Hearst when they gave her the name “Tania.” , Although brainwashing can be effective and thorough, most brainwashers find it necessary to test the depths of their control over their subjects.
Control can be tested in several ways, depending on the brainwasher’s goals, with the results determining how much reinforcement the victim needs to remain brainwashed.
Extorting money is one way to test control, as well as enrich the brainwasher’s pockets.
Psychic medium Rose Marks used her control over author Jude Deveraux to bilk Deveraux out of $17 million in cash and property while ruining the writer’s career. .Committing criminal acts, either with or for the brainwasher, is another.
Patty Hearst accompanying the SLA on one of their robberies is an example of this. , Brainwashing victims can appear focused on the group and or its leader to the point of obsession.
At the same time, they seem to be unable to solve problems without the help of the group or its leader. , They may also withdraw from people who don’t share their interest in the brainwasher. , Brainwashing victims tend to be listless, withdrawn, and devoid of whatever personality marked them before they were brainwashed.This is particularly noticeable in both cult victims and spouses in an abusive relationship.
Some victims may internalize their anger, leading to depression and a host of physical disorders, possibly even to suicide.
Others may vent their anger on anyone they see as the cause of their problems, often through verbal or physical confrontation. , This realization is often accompanied by denial and anguish, as the subject begins to question things without having had practice in questioning things.
Gradually, the subject should become aware of how he or she was manipulated. , Exposure to multiple options, without overwhelming the subject with too many options at once, will provide the subject with a new, broader perspective from which to challenge the beliefs implanted by the brainwasher.
Some of these contrasting ideas may, in themselves, come with their own forms of manipulation.
In such cases, it’s helpful to also seek out as unbiased forms of those ideas as possible.A stronger form of this exposure is to force the subject to relive the brainwashing experience by having him or her act it out, but providing the subject with options to counteract the brainwashing.
This type of therapy requires a therapist skilled in psychodrama techniques. , At first, the subject may become anxious about making decisions for himself or herself or feel ashamed about making the “wrong” decision now or in the past.
With practice, however, this anxiety will fade.
About the Author
Adam Burns
Specializes in breaking down complex pet care topics into simple steps.
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