This article is an electronic version of an article originally published in Cultic Studies Journal, 1996, Volume 13, Number 2, pages 125-152. Please keep in mind that the pagination of this electronic reprint differs from that of the bound volume. This fact could affect how you enter bibliographic information in papers that you may write.

Pseudo-identity and the Treatment of Personality Change in Victims of Captivity and Cults

Louis Jolyon West, M.D.
Paul R. Martin, Ph.D.

Abstract

Prolonged environmental stress can disrupt the normal integrative functions of personality. Prisoners of war, civilian prisoners of Chinese Communist captors, political prisoners (e.g., Cardinal Mindszenty), victims of the “Stockholm Syndrome,” hostages, concentration camp inmates, and members of totalist cults often adapt to prolonged environmental stress by means of dissociation, that is by generating an altered persona, or pseudo-identity. When internal defense mechanisms break down, pseudo-identity can become de­stabilized, producing one or more of three clinical pictures: the “floater,” the “contemplator,” and the “survivor.” The goal of treatment is to relieve clients’ induced psychopathology and thus restore their pre-cult personality. Treatment, which varies somewhat with the three clinical pictures, should examine pre-abuse factors and the nature of the environmental stress, which is unique to thought-reform systems. This approach helps clients come to understand that their symptoms are largely responses to stress. Case examples and specific treatment strategies are discussed.
 

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