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Many people buy a lottery ticket, hoping (with various levels of belief) that they can win.  The chances of ending up in a cult or high control group are far higher and yet many people believe it could never happen them.  I unfortunately do not have the luxury of holding that belief. If mental health has a stigma attached to it, the one relating to cults is in some respects higher. ( Whilst many people have an awareness of the difficulties people who suffer with mental health problems face, most people have never had to face cults.)  These are two reasons:  1.  Most people don't think they could be taken in and manipulated.  2.  The danger that some groups pose to those who speak out about them is real.

Not all groups are either harmful or hard-core.  I belonged to a group which I joined for the best of reasons.  It may be hard to understand that there can be many parts of a group which are wonderful, but man, other parts of it can really mess with your head. Most people accept that life does not go according to plan.  The thing is when it doesn't go right in a cult, things are much more acute.  A fantastic display of mental gymnastics has to be performed in order to see if from a different perspective and the leader is ALWAYS right.  This binds you in a way you cannot imagine.  It is very  hard under peer pressure to admit you cannot see the emperor's new clothes.  Maybe I just wasn't trying hard enough.  Didn't want to see it enough. 

The thing is when you are in that situation, you cannot see it and you keep going until one day....you can't.

Nobody stopped me leaving.  Walking away was easy.   Walking away from myself was not.  I was not the person who I used to be and no longer felt I had an authentic identity.  My mind was no longer mine.  I had given it away in the idea of a higher cause.  One is told that freedom is the prize, but the truth is that freedom is the cost.

We may think of cults as an American issue, but we have pro rata, a similar number here in the UK.  They may be religious, spiritual, business, political or even one to one.  Everyone wants life to be grand, to have more impact, to be a better person or world peace, but how much do you want it?  How high do you want to jump?  And here is the rub.  Power ultimately resides in one person having something that others want. It can include making others believe that what the person in power wants is what the individual  wants.  To both parties, this can be a potent mix.  How badly do you want something?.. This is what is being sold and the seduction is strong. Heady. Being seduced is very seductive.  Until it isn't.

Putting me back together was hard.  Sometimes it still is and yes, I was fortunate enough to have specialist help.  Some people are happy to stay with their cults and get a lot out of them.  Good luck to them.  Other people stay because its too hard to leave.  They may be restricted mentally, physically or financially. Often people are broken.  Some leave knowing they are leaving a family behind in a cult.  Leaving then becomes an act of defiance on a truly split level.  And in all these scenarios, there is always hope.

ENCOURAGE is a charity that recognises the chaos caused to the individual and often their families.  This is a specialist area which is unfamiliar territory to most therapists.  ENCOURAGE was set up to help people survive and thrive.  It helps them find their voice again.  For some people who are born into organisations, this may be the first time they realised they have a voice.  And the first time to see things as an independent human being.

This is worth running for.  Please sponsor me as I run to help people who are supported by ENCOURAGE.

Sarah xxx