is it possible to recognize your own "brainwashing"
Date: May 14, 2005 08:51AM
I would welcome the comments of a professional psychiatrist. What follows is merely an opinion from a non-professional, but I’ve been thinking about it for a while.
Actually, this “brainwashed” state of mind reminds me of a “psychotic” state. I have a family member who is psychotic and she suffers from serious delusions for which she has been hospitalized many times. I have read a lot about psychosis and I had a lot of discussions with her psychiatrist and other medical team members.
The point is that a psychotic patient does not realize he is psychotic. He cannot. This situation is actually caused by his disorder, which loops the loop and the patient cannot escape his delusion.
For example, when I ask that psychotic person why she is in the hospital, she says “because I am sick”. When I ask: “what kind of medication do you take?” she says: “antipsychotic drugs”. When I ask her “why?” she says “because it makes me feel better”. When I ask her “do you know what a psychosis is?” she says “yes, it’s when you have delusions and loose contact with the reality”. Finally, when I ask “do you realize the stories you make are delusional and this is why you are here (in the hospital)?” she says “No, everything I say is true, but nobody believes me”!!! Finally, she has this brilliant line which goes “SEE! The fact that the medication is not effective on me proves that I’m not sick, otherwise the medication would cure me”!!!
This closed system of logic is obviously flawed, but for her it makes perfect sense and she doesn’t realize she is psychotic. I see the same type of flawed logic in people that have been trained/manipulated/brainwashed by LGATs like Landmark Education. Maybe this is why this type of training can lead to psychosis for some people.
Mike D.