How does a person get brainwashed?

The techniques of brainwashing typically involve isolation from former associates and sources of information; an exacting regimen requiring absolute obedience and humility; strong social pressures and rewards for cooperation; physical and psychological punishments for non-cooperation ranging from social ostracism and ...
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What causes someone to be brainwashed?

Someone is said to be brainwashed when their mind is controlled or altered by force, changing what they believe, think, value and do.
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How can you tell if someone is brainwashed?

Some of the most common strategies gaslighters use include:
  1. They Blatantly Lie. The abuser blatantly and habitually lies to change another person's reality. ...
  2. They Attack Things Important to You. ...
  3. They Project. ...
  4. They Manipulate Your Relationships. ...
  5. They Wear You Down. ...
  6. They Dangle Compliments as Weapons.
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How does a brainwashed person act?

Someone who is brainwashed rarely questions things that they're told by their leader or the person they look up to, and they often don't have their own opinions. Helping someone who's brainwashed can be challenging, and it can take a long time since their ideas are deeply rooted in their mind.
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What are the steps to brainwashing?

Lifton ultimately defined a set of steps involved in the cases of brainwashing studied, roughly dividing them into three stages: breaking down the self, introducing the possibility of salvation, and rebuilding the self.
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7 Tactics of Brainwashing Abusers



What are some examples of brainwashing?

What Is Brainwashing? Brainwashing is commonly associated with cults and abuse. A cult leader might, for example, present a warm and friendly disposition to gain a person's trust, then slowly break down the person by calling him or her names, forcing him or her to work, and engaging in other forms of abuse.
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How do narcissists brainwash?

Narcissists distort the truth through disinformation, oversimplifying, ridiculing and sowing doubt. Narcissists can be incredibly skilled at using classic elements of thought-control and brainwashing.
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How do you fight brainwashing?

Following is the step-by-step approach you can take to reverse a person's brainwashing:
  1. Isolate them from their cult. ...
  2. Present yourself as an ingroup. ...
  3. Poke holes into their beliefs. ...
  4. Show them how they've been brainwashed. ...
  5. Show them the MO of other brainwashers. ...
  6. Restore their previous identity. ...
  7. Update their identity.
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Can you control someone's mind?

Actually, it's happening already — but not in the way you might be thinking… To some extent, yes. “We can input information into the brain,” says Edward Boyden, Benesse Career Development Professor at the MIT Media Lab.
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Is brainwashing a form of abuse?

Brainwashing is one example of how abuse in relationships parallels torture. Brainwashing makes it easier to control a targeted person. And it makes it harder for the person to see their way free of the relationship. Sign up for our 5-day series and learn about the science behind trauma from a licensed psychologist.
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Is brainwashing a crime?

“Brainwashing” is not a new concept, not even in the legal world. In the field of psychology, the term has been used over time in the studies of prisoners of war and religious cults. 1 In the field of law, individual criminal defendants have tried, though unsuccessfully, to use brainwashing as a criminal defense.
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Is being brainwashed a mental illness?

The American Psychiatric Association's official manual of mental disorders lists “brainwashing” and “thought reform” as possible root causes for a dissociative disorder, a type of disorder that can affect one's memory and sense of identity.
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How do you tell if a child is being brainwashed?

Refusing to let the child have any contact with the other parent in person, via telephone, through the mail or by e-mail. Telling the child too many details about the marital relationship or reasons for the breakup. Refusing to allow the children take their belongings between residences.
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What does feeling brainwashed mean?

Definition of brainwashing

1 : a forcible indoctrination to induce someone to give up basic political, social, or religious beliefs and attitudes and to accept contrasting regimented ideas. 2 : persuasion by propaganda or salesmanship.
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Can you resist brainwashing?

Brainwashing is an outdated psychological concept, but narcissistic cult leaders can still exercise extreme influence over smart, sane, “regular” people. You can protect yourself from cultic mind control techniques by learning the warning signs and asking the right questions.
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Can you brainwash someone?

The modern techniques of brainwashing and menticide—those perversions of psychology—can bring almost any man into submission and surrender. Many of the victims of thought control, brainwashing, and menticide that we have talked about were strong men whose minds and wills were broken and degraded.
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Can music brainwash you?

A research study in 2011 by fMRI showed that repeated exposure to a song caused emotional centers of the brain (including the ones that show happiness) to react when they hear a song that's been played before, even when it's a song the person says they don't like.
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How does a narcissist try to control you?

3. They use shock, awe, and guilt. Narcissists continue to gain control of the people in their life by eliciting difficult emotions. “After going through a period of 'grooming' someone for a close relationship, the narcissist moves on to use shock, awe, and guilt to maintain control,” Talley explains.
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What happens to your brain when dealing with a narcissist?

In a blog published on Psych Central, author and researcher Kim Saeed wrote that narcissistic abuse acts like traumatic stress and can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Studies suggest that long-term traumatic stress affects three major parts of the brain - the hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, and amygdala.
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How do you confuse a narcissist?

11 Ways to Confuse and Disarm a Narcissist
  1. 1 Be unpredictable.
  2. 2 Say “no” when they ask for favors.
  3. 3 Remove all emotion from your reactions to them.
  4. 4 Bore them with the “gray rock” treatment.
  5. 5 Guard your sensitive information closely.
  6. 6 Walk away while they're talking.
  7. 7 Cut off all communication.
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What are the long term effects of brainwashing?

Long term effects of brainwashing have been linked with complex-PTSD, depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts. Withdrawal from life. Victims of brainwashing often internalize their anger which leads to depression, anxiety, and sometimes suicide.
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What type of quirk is brainwashing?

Hitoshi activating his Quirk on Izuku. Brainwashing ( 洗 せん 脳 のう , Sen'nō?): Hitoshi's Quirk allows him to put someone in a state where they are forced to obey whatever he commands. He can only activate this power when his target verbally responds to something he says.
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What is the difference between brainwashing and an argument?

What is the difference between brainwashing and an argument? Brainwashing is a manipulation in which a new information or idea is introduced. The listener is open to suggestion and accepts ideas and philosophy without proper claim or reasoning. Argument is when two or more people express and vali ...
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Can you brainwash yourself?

Yes, you can brainwash yourself. The good news is that it won't require electric shocks, psychotropics, or a charismatic cult leader.
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