Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 5, No. 6, 2006, Page 11
activity, which is biased for negative emotions, emotional reactivity, and psychopathology
(Teicher, 2002). Researchers at Baylor Medical Center also found that babies of depressed
mothers, who were unable to play with their children, had smaller and less complex brains
than babies of nondepressed mothers, (Perry, 2002). And brain scans of two-year-old
Romanian orphans who had not been held and played with showed little or no activity in the
parts of their brains dedicated to emotions. Thus, they were unable to attach because they
could not feel. Perry (2002), reporting on some of the findings of the Romanian adoptee
research team, stated that ―chaotic, inattentive, and ignorant caregiving can produce
pervasive developmental delays‖ and meet criteria for a DSM diagnosis (p. 89). Thus, not
just the obvious forms of child maltreatment (abuse) but also neglect appear to have major
consequences for healthy development.
An insecure attachment has been shown to put people at risk for psychopathology.
Specifically, the attachment category known as disorganized/disoriented appears to create a
vulnerability to developing PTSD after experiencing a traumatic event as an adult. This may
be due to the fact that children with this ―D‖ attachment style learned to use dissociation to
cope with early childhood stress. Unable to fight or flee as children, they froze or dissociated
(they ―got away‖ psychologically) as a way of coping, and this behavior became their
preferred mode of dealing with stress. From the trauma literature we know that people who
dissociate during a traumatic event are more likely than others exposed to the same event
to develop PTSD. A logical interpretation of this finding would suggest that people who grow
up in chaotic, neglectful, and/or abusive homes that foster disorganized attachment are
more at risk for PTSD. This is borne out in research on foster children, where the most
prevalent attachment category observed was ―D" (about 80 percent of the children in foster
homes—Cicchetti, 1996). It would not be such a great leap then to assume that people who
grow up in cults, where parents are distracted, frustrated, confused, shamed, deprived, and
angry would develop disordered attachment and thus be at risk for PTSD.
Neurobiology, Trauma, and Cults
This article has focused on the effects of the biological component of trauma on the normal
stress response, affect regulation, and information processing. Understanding this
component helps create a more comprehensive clinical picture that informs treatment of
survivors. Traumatic experiences and child maltreatment have been extensively
documented in the cult literature (e.g., Markowitz &Halperin, 1984 Langone &Eisenberg,
1993 Ayella, 1998 Whitsett &Kent, 2003) but to date the biological component has not
been addressed in relation to those experiences. A neurobiological perspective may
illuminate some of the trauma-related symptoms observed in cult survivors.
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a three pronged phenomena characterized by the
following:
1. Re-experiencing (in the form of nightmares, intrusive thoughts, and ―flashbacks‖)
2. Avoidance (of the reminders, which act as ―triggers‖)
3. Heightened arousal (a dysregulated physiological state resulting in insomnia,
irritability, and a startle response).
Re-experiencing and Avoidance
Biological explanations can shed much light on the symptoms of re-experiencing and
avoidance. Trauma survivors are prone to re-experiencing because the information they
initially received was not processed completely due to the overwhelming emotional affect
accompanying it. Parts of the experience were dissociated and not entered into explicit
memory. Thus, these portions remain unintegrated in implicit memory circuits, in
perceptual, emotional, and behavioral networks. The dissociated material (sights, sounds,
activity, which is biased for negative emotions, emotional reactivity, and psychopathology
(Teicher, 2002). Researchers at Baylor Medical Center also found that babies of depressed
mothers, who were unable to play with their children, had smaller and less complex brains
than babies of nondepressed mothers, (Perry, 2002). And brain scans of two-year-old
Romanian orphans who had not been held and played with showed little or no activity in the
parts of their brains dedicated to emotions. Thus, they were unable to attach because they
could not feel. Perry (2002), reporting on some of the findings of the Romanian adoptee
research team, stated that ―chaotic, inattentive, and ignorant caregiving can produce
pervasive developmental delays‖ and meet criteria for a DSM diagnosis (p. 89). Thus, not
just the obvious forms of child maltreatment (abuse) but also neglect appear to have major
consequences for healthy development.
An insecure attachment has been shown to put people at risk for psychopathology.
Specifically, the attachment category known as disorganized/disoriented appears to create a
vulnerability to developing PTSD after experiencing a traumatic event as an adult. This may
be due to the fact that children with this ―D‖ attachment style learned to use dissociation to
cope with early childhood stress. Unable to fight or flee as children, they froze or dissociated
(they ―got away‖ psychologically) as a way of coping, and this behavior became their
preferred mode of dealing with stress. From the trauma literature we know that people who
dissociate during a traumatic event are more likely than others exposed to the same event
to develop PTSD. A logical interpretation of this finding would suggest that people who grow
up in chaotic, neglectful, and/or abusive homes that foster disorganized attachment are
more at risk for PTSD. This is borne out in research on foster children, where the most
prevalent attachment category observed was ―D" (about 80 percent of the children in foster
homes—Cicchetti, 1996). It would not be such a great leap then to assume that people who
grow up in cults, where parents are distracted, frustrated, confused, shamed, deprived, and
angry would develop disordered attachment and thus be at risk for PTSD.
Neurobiology, Trauma, and Cults
This article has focused on the effects of the biological component of trauma on the normal
stress response, affect regulation, and information processing. Understanding this
component helps create a more comprehensive clinical picture that informs treatment of
survivors. Traumatic experiences and child maltreatment have been extensively
documented in the cult literature (e.g., Markowitz &Halperin, 1984 Langone &Eisenberg,
1993 Ayella, 1998 Whitsett &Kent, 2003) but to date the biological component has not
been addressed in relation to those experiences. A neurobiological perspective may
illuminate some of the trauma-related symptoms observed in cult survivors.
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a three pronged phenomena characterized by the
following:
1. Re-experiencing (in the form of nightmares, intrusive thoughts, and ―flashbacks‖)
2. Avoidance (of the reminders, which act as ―triggers‖)
3. Heightened arousal (a dysregulated physiological state resulting in insomnia,
irritability, and a startle response).
Re-experiencing and Avoidance
Biological explanations can shed much light on the symptoms of re-experiencing and
avoidance. Trauma survivors are prone to re-experiencing because the information they
initially received was not processed completely due to the overwhelming emotional affect
accompanying it. Parts of the experience were dissociated and not entered into explicit
memory. Thus, these portions remain unintegrated in implicit memory circuits, in
perceptual, emotional, and behavioral networks. The dissociated material (sights, sounds,
