Curtis:
> > If you would care to give some examples I would certainly
> > read it with interest...
> >
Judy:
> Naah. I just wanted to register my opinion. I've done
> that. And since my opinion is worthless to you, as yours
> is to me, I don't see any point in discussing it.
>
According to Margaret Singer, there is a range of mental 
impairments resulting from joining cult groups some of which 
remain after many years.

  a. Blackout, lack of sensory filters, and anxiety attacks.
  b. Fog and space
  c. Altered states and memory difficulties
  d. Loss of boundaries
  e. Inappropriate and unrelated bursts of emotions
  f. Muscle jerking
  g. Long term emotional flatness
  h. Seizures
  i. Visual hallucinations

However, participation in new religious groups seems to have 
a generally positive impact on most participants, an 
often-replicated finding that undercuts brainwashing 
arguments but is usually ignored by proponents of such 
theories as proposed by Singer. 

Work cited:

"Brainwashing" Claims and Minority Religions Outside the 
United States: Cultural Diffusion of a Questionable Concept 
in the Legal Arena
By James T. Richardson, Ph.D. 

Read more:

Subject: Psychological Persuasion
Author: Willytex
Newsgroups: alt.meditation.transcendental
Date: May 21, 2002


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