45 People Who Escaped From Cults Are Sharing What Their Breaking Points Were

Suzanne, from Northern Illinois University, explained to Bored Panda what makes cult leaders so dangerous. "Cult leaders are master manipulators who are also excellent readers of others—and they truly sense who is a more likely 'follower' aka 'victim' and tend to invest their energy wisely. They don't waste too much time on people they don't think will easily join their ranks," she told Bored Panda that these individuals go for the most vulnerable.

"Cult leaders are narcissistic individuals who use their self-interest and charisma to prey on their followers. This, of course, requires that their followers, or marks, have certain traits that make them more likely to be preyed upon. Research suggests that some of the traits that make people vulnerable to joining a cult include suffering from anxiety or depression or addictions."

Disorders like anxiety or depression can make a person more vulnerable to a cultist who offers them solutions to their problems. "People with addictions need to have something to fill the hole left when they stop using whatever substance/behavior that they are addicted to. Addiction reflects a hunger and cult leaders have an easy time using their powers of persuasion to convince the follower that they and their cult can fill that need," Suzanne stressed that addicts are also potential prey for cult leaders.

"Cult leaders often use the powers of seduction to convince people to follow them—they use flattery of a potential member along with promises of 'belonging' and being 'needed,' so that can be extremely enticing to someone who feels that something important is missing in their life. When someone convinces us that they care more about us than anyone else in our world, we will do whatever they want us to do just to keep their light shining on us," she drew attention to how cults exploit human psychology for their own benefit.

According to the psychology expert, people are brought into cults believing that the leader has all the answers they're seeking. "You are treated like family and you have other cult members who make you feel welcome and work hard to develop that sense of belonging. When nothing else in your life is giving you what you need or satisfying you in important ways, a cult is the perfect setting to feel valued and that you matter," she said that this entraps a person, convincing them to stay. However, that's not to say that it's impossible to get someone out.

"To get someone you care about out of the cult, you have to work hard and be available to help them see reason. You have to encourage them to stay involved in activities beyond the cult, to engage in connections with people who are 'outsiders,'" Suzanne explained.

"For some people, the sense of belonging within a cult is worth more than autonomy, wealth, or connections to family or those beyond the cult. That's when interventions by caring others are needed to help that person recognize the truth of their situation."

According to the BBC, there are as many as 2k suspected cults operating in the United Kingdom at this point in time. Some of them target students to swell their ranks. “Just absolute mind control,” is how Jess, a former student, described her time at the Shincheonji Church of Jesus.

She was recruited on the campus of the University of Salford and said she couldn’t recognize herself anymore while she was with the cult.

Meanwhile, CBS states that there are up to 10k cults in the United States. International cult expert Steve Eichel stressed that most cults are small and deliberately try to stay under the radar.

"Unless they commit a crime, unless they do something that draws attention to them—negative attention and criticism to them—we generally don't know about them,” the expert suggested that these groups could be living right under our very noses without anyone realizing that something’s very wrong.

Eichel listed some of the things that make a cult, well, a cult. From deception to being overly secretive, here are the ways to recognize one of these groups.

"Beware of any kind of pressure. That's probably the single most important advice I can give anyone. Any kind of pressure to make a quick decision about becoming involved in any intensive kind of activity or organization,” the cult expert stressed that being rushed to make decisions can be an indication that you’ve been approached by cultists.

“Be wary of any leader who proclaims him or herself as having special powers or special insight. And, of course, divinity,” he said. “The group is closed, so in other words, although there may be outside followers, there's usually an inner circle that follows the leader without question, and that maintains a tremendous amount of secrecy."

According to Eichel, cults use deceptive means to recruit new members. Then, they use an “organized program of through reform” (aka brainwashing) to change how these fresh recruits think and operate.

"Typically, cults also exploit their members… mostly financially. Within the group, they'll exploit members financially, psychologically, emotionally and, all too often, sexually,” the expert warned.

"A very important aspect of cult is the idea that if you leave the cult, horrible things will happen to you. This is important, and it's important to realize. That people outside of a cult are potential members, so they're not looked upon as negatively as people inside the cult who then leave the cult."