This list appears on the ReGAIN website at the end of a personal account by a former member of the Legion of Christ, a cultic organization within the Roman Catholic Church. The writer details the difficulties of re-entering normal life after being in the Legion from the age of sixteen to twenty. Lots of parallels! Don't be discouraged if some of the issues listed below are still a problem 3+ years after leaving the Assembly. As she says at the end, "Patience!"
What Are the Recovery Issues following a Cultic Experience?
1. Identity Crisis
· Who am I now?2. Feeling disconnected, sense of anomie (defined by Webster as "personal unrest, alienation, and uncertainty that comes from a lack of purpose or ideals")
· What do I believe? (Take your time with this one!)
· Integrate cultic experience into prior personality
· What are my interests? Talents? Relationships? Education? Hobbies? Even favorite color is a starting point
3. Grief
· People you left behind4. Boundary issues
· Loss of a cause
· Loss of “belonging”
· Losses you had to give up in order to join group
· Loss of innocence
· Loss of career goals; finances; belongings
· Missing the “buzz”; looking for it elsewhere
· Anger
· Rebuild healthy boundaries5. Trust issues
· It’s okay not to divulge everything to everyone
· Learn how the group tore down your boundaries between you and other group members/leaders
· Learn how the group built up unhealthy boundaries between you and the outside world
· Test the waters, build up a relationship before you trust someone6. Magical Thinking of cultic group
· Beef up your critical thinking skills!7. Varying symptoms of post-traumatic stress
· Panic attacks8. Difficulty with relationships and authority figures
· Floating/triggers
· Nightmares
· Sleep disorders
· Inability to make decisions
· Inability to concentrate
· Fears not grounded in reality – fear the group was “right”
9. Underemployment
PATIENCE! PATIENCE! PATIENCE!