I was recently reading Thought Reform: and the psychology of totalism in China along with Steve Hasaans book on recovery from cults. There are a lot of commercial gurus out now that focus on undermining the "self" and the persons mind. Once they do that I guess it's pretty easy for them to push whatever the hell the want into their minds. One thing I'm interested in is "thought-stopping". I know there are many cults that use this such as the moonies and even new age gurus that encourage thought stopping. How does one recover from the thought stopping after leaving the cult. I know it will most likely take months to recover to a normal state of mind. I also read a book called The Brain that Changes Itself which talked about brain plasticity and how the brain can rewire itself over time. I guess that's why it's so easy for people to fall into mind control traps, because the brain isn't hard wired. Anyway, if you've experienced leaving a cult and experienced the brain lethargy what can you do to get back? Thanks

There's also a kind of numb feeling in the brain which I guess was induced by the thought-stopping practices. I know you can't actually "stop" thoughts but I guess you can build up a mental wall to extremely suppress them. how do you bring down the wall?

I read "The Brain That Changes Itself" - great book!

I'm answering on the fly here, but re: bringing down the thought-stopping wall, I would recommend doing activities engage your brain without a lot of conscious deliberative thinking. Sports, gardening, crafts, a cooking class, puzzles and games - whatever rings your bell interest-wise. My theory is that your brain gets used to interpreting info and solving problems to do these activities, but without a lot of reflective "am I doing this right?" anxiety, so you can relax and just do the activity. With time it'll become more natural.

Just my two cents.