The word deprogram was first coined in 1973. The term brainwashing comes from the Mandarin phrase xinaoxi nao and was used to explain the Chinese Communists’ efforts in what we might refer to today as ‘thought reform’ during the Communist Revolution in 1949. These words are emotionally laden terms that contain implications of coercion, scarring,

The second of my deprogrammings is more traditional. I had been a disciple(htpd) for about nine months and was looking forward to Christmas vacation. I had already flunked out of school and I was constantly broke. I never had money and I barely worked as a busboy in a resturant in town. I didn’t live

The last deprogramming really was an attempt at reprogramming me. This time, though, I wasn’t alone. There was an huge atmosphere of fear and dread and all my friends were scared to death. I tried to tell myself that I wasn’t, but after talking to some that had been through it, I did every kind