Thread by @DrGJackBrown

1/ THREAD: What makes people susceptible to Dogma — and thus vulnerable to Cults/Manipulation? When they have/they're:

• Scared
• Sadness/Depression
• Traumatized/PTSD/C-PTSD
• Have a Dichotomous Worldview
• Victim of Childhood Abuse — Emotional, Physical, or Sexual Abuse

2/ People can fall victim to Dogma/Cults/Manipulation when they're/have:

• Sick/Unhealthy, particularly chronically so
• Uneducated/Less educated
• Unemployed
• A Victim of Violent Crime or Dramatic Financial Crime
• Tired, especially chronically Tired
• Financially Poor

3/ People can fall victim to Dogma/Cults/Manipulation when they're/have:

• Crises coupled w/ poor contingency plans/poor social & financial support
• Repeated exposure to dogma/cult belief, even if it's passive
• If their family/friends/peer-group grow dogma/cult susceptible

4/ People can fall victim to Dogma/Cults/Manipulation when they're/have:

• Generalized Ego-weakness
• When what they do professionally is unvalued
• When they don't feel appreciated
• Unloved/Feel Unloved — *Particularly when they don't feel LOVED UNCONDITIONALLY*

5/ People can fall victim to Dogma/Cults/Manipulation when they're/have:

• When their family/peer group/tribe becomes less appealing or has (seems to have) less purpose
• When they feel a lack of connection
• Have No/Few Friends
• Isolation, especially chronic isolation

6/ People can fall victim to Dogma/Cults/Manipulation when they're/have:

• Lonely
• Few or Deteriorated Family Relationships
• Few or No Family Support Systems
• Tendency toward Dissociative States
• Proclivities toward abuse of controlled substances

7/ People can fall victim to Dogma/Cults/Manipulation when they're/have:

• Grew up with highly idiosyncratic family/role model behavior
• Hungry, especially chronic hunger/malnourishment
• Indoctrinated from youth

8/ People can fall victim to Dogma/Cults/Manipulation when they're/have:

• Diminished Courage (primarily moral courage, although sometimes diminished physical courage as well)
• Homeless (houseless)
• Diminished Self-Agency
• Diminished Assertiveness

9/ People can fall victim to Dogma/Cults/Manipulation when they're/have:

• Diminished Objectivity
• Low or no connection with Animals and/or Nature
• Low or no connection with the Arts
• Low or no love for Reading, particularly Fiction
• Low or no Empathy

10/ People can fall victim to Dogma/Cults/Manipulation when they're/have:

• Low/poor Impulse Control
• Living on the lower levels of Maslow's Hierarch of Needs
• An Inability to Detect: the Con, Liars, Narcissism, Sadism, Machiavellianism, and Sociopathy/Psychopathy (APD)

11/ Periodically review this list whilst self-assessing. Are you growing less or more susceptible? What about your friends and family? What can you do to diminish these negative influences? Reach out and/or seek professional help if you or your loved-ones are vulnerable.

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