The more a cult likes to tamper with a person's ability to think and reason for themselves, the greater the problem recovering.
Some cults sort of function like : Only the leader has real brains, you aren't very bright, let him do all the thinking. It can be extended that the leader's top disciple(s) may have reasoning power too.
It took me years to get free of all the various problems I had over religion, until I could hold a good job.

I found that after I left Hickman, it still caused me problems. My reputation suffered in the Jewish community.
One time I was in a Jewish bookstore on LI, NY and someone still thought I was in the group (a lot of Hickmanites used to go to that store), they talked behind my back and said something about how they wished we wouldn't shop there and they didn't need us.
And at Lubavitch, I heard some rabbi say how they could never trust us again. But then again, can I trust them? I got murdered for my ideals, beliefs etc in school and I didn't see them anywhere around during the time I was in good shape.

I'm in the middle of shooting some videos about recovery, business scams and also doing business trainings. The mental health movement has done a lot for me.