Current Affairs From A Survivor’s View

Watching the Presidential Debate last night, I was overwhelmed by a familiar feeling. Helplessness. If I had to sum it up, that’s the best word I can think of to describe it in a nutshell.

It’s been especially “triggering” for a survivor of institutional abuse in a high control group to witness people we were raised to believe we should be able to trust lie about things that can easily be proven. The term “gaslighting” is thrown around a lot these days, but some of us have been familiar with it on a deep level for decades. In a high control group aka cult, you’re thoroughly programmed to question your own gut, your knowledge and healthy fear for the purpose of being able to tell you what your reality is. It’s actually quite effective, particularly with developing minds like what Phoenix House, Synanon and every high control program in the troubled teen industry have targeted for decades.

Even adult residents of these programs are easily victimized because they’re often marginalized populations such as POC, individuals with substance/alcohol use disorder, previously homeless, incarcerated (as a sentencing alternative). Aside from the obvious vulnerabilities faced by these groups, they also often have more Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) which have produced past trauma and sometimes Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). This puts individuals in a much more susceptible state than someone who hasn’t experienced quite so many of these ACEs. They’ve been preprogrammed and primed for cult manipulation.

The fact is that the percentage of the population that is under the spell of the madman we call “Mr. President” have very clearly been programmed. Of course they’ll say “this is not a cult” because that’s what literally everyone who is deeply indoctrinated says about the cult that they’re in. I don’t make the rules. But make no mistake that those of us who have spent time in a high control group/cult and has been in any part of the deprogramming process can see this very clearly. We also know that it has, in many cases, taken DECADES to even be able to see that we are still programmed, let alone for the healing process to start.

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