NEWS People who leave a cult go through a complicated process of change and often have difficult experiences of threats and violence from the cult. They describe varying degrees of mental illness, shame and have difficulties with trust. They can be stuck in the cult's ideology and view of themselves when they leave, which makes it difficult for them to ask for and receive help from the health care system.
A dissertation by Cecilia Hadding aims to provide a basis for increased understanding and knowledge of former cult members' problems and needs. In this, the goal is to highlight aspects that are important in the treatment of former cult members when they seek help from health care. The dissertation shows that former cult members undergo a complicated process of change when they leave the cult. The culture in the cult in which they have lived may differ markedly from that of the majority society.
Cecilia Hadding, ST doctor in Adult psychiatry.
ImageHans Karlsson"They may feel like strangers or completely new to the world, and it takes time and effort for them to orient themselves, establish new contacts and create new meaning after leaving the cult," says Cecilia Hadding.
What is surprising, but an important finding, is how former cult members seem to remain in part of the cult's ideology and view of themselves when they encounter the health care system outside the cult, and how this in several ways made it difficult for them to ask for and receive help from the health care system. It also became clear that the former cult members do not feel that they got the help they needed, and that they feel that the health care professionals they met lacked knowledge about how living and leaving a cult could have affected them.
The dissertation reveals extensive experiences of threats, violence and potentially traumatizing events from their time in a cult as well as the process of leaving it. They had learned, among other things, in the cult that their right to exist ceased when they left it, and this was a deep-rooted conviction that created both fear and affected their well-being negatively.
"They also describe difficulties with trust and personal boundaries and often have symptoms of varying degrees of shame and mental illness. Among the symptoms that emerge are anxiety, nightmares, reliving difficult events, suicidal thoughts, and self-harm.”
The health care system needs to make an inventory of former cult members exposure to violence, the risks that exist for these individuals and what consistent bond they left to the cult. Since shame and self-accusation learned in the cult are prominent among the participants in the papers, this may be important to address in the treatment of former cult members.
"Based on what is shown in the studies, healthcare professionals need to have more knowledge about cults and influence, and that they are able to confirm both cultural, existential and meaning-making aspects of the former cult member's life," says Cecilia Hadding.
Method and aims: The thesis consist of three papers and is based on interviews with thirty former cult members. The first part of the study aimed to increase understanding of former cult members' experience of consultations with mental health professionals after they left the cult. The second paper explored former cult members' experiences of the process of changing culture, with a particular focus on mental health. In this paper, the culture formulation interview from DSM-5 was used to provide extra depth in exploring the participants' culture and meaning-making. The third paper explored exposure to violence and coercive control in cults, and its consequences for mental health.
Cecilia Hadding is the first to defend a thesis on the subject of Professional development! This took place on 12 January. Cecilia grew up in southern Sweden and moved to Umeå to study medicine. Now she is a resident physician in adult psychiatry at the University Hospital of Umeå. She has a long-term commitment to professional development at the medical education where she teaches and has now written her thesis. And yes, there are plans for more research in the future – both in Sweden and with colleagues in other countries.
Phone: +46 70-602 60 08
Email: cecilia.hadding@umu.se