Phobia Indoctrination: How Fear Keeps You In

Understanding the psychology of fear-based control tactics, including hell, disasters, and spiritual death threats used by WMSCOG.

Fear is one of the most powerful tools used by high-control groups to keep members from leaving. This process, called phobia indoctrination, involves implanting irrational fears about leaving the group—fears so intense that the mere thought of leaving triggers panic, guilt, and terror.

If you're struggling to leave WMSCOG despite serious doubts, you're likely experiencing the effects of phobia indoctrination. Understanding how this works can help you see that your fear is manufactured, not divinely ordained.

What is Phobia Indoctrination?

Phobia indoctrination is the deliberate cultivation of irrational fears about leaving a group. These aren't natural fears based on real danger—they're manufactured anxieties designed to trap you psychologically.

Key Characteristics:

  • Disproportionate: The fear response is far greater than the actual risk
  • Irrational: The feared consequences lack evidence or logical basis
  • Paralyzing: The fear prevents you from taking action even when you want to
  • Internalized: Over time, you police yourself with these fears

Steven Hassan, cult expert and former Moonie, describes phobia indoctrination as one of the most effective control mechanisms: "Members are made to fear thinking independently, leaving the group, or even imagining life outside. The phobia becomes so strong that people would rather stay in a harmful situation than face the manufactured fear."

How Phobia Indoctrination Works

The Psychology of Fear Conditioning

Phobia indoctrination works through a process similar to classical conditioning:

  1. Association: The group repeatedly associates leaving with terrible consequences
  2. Repetition: These associations are reinforced through teachings, testimonies, and warnings
  3. Emotional Intensity: The consequences are described with vivid, terrifying imagery
  4. Social Reinforcement: Other members share the same fears, normalizing them
  5. Internalization: Eventually, you don't need external reminders—the fear is automatic

Why This Works: The human brain is wired to prioritize avoiding danger over seeking reward. Once a fear is deeply implanted, it's incredibly difficult to override, even when you logically know the fear is irrational.

Neurological Impact

Fear-based control actually changes your brain:

  • Amygdala Activation: The fear center of the brain becomes hypersensitive to thoughts of leaving
  • Stress Hormones: Chronic fear keeps cortisol and adrenaline elevated, affecting decision-making
  • Neural Pathways: Repeated fear responses create strong neural associations that are hard to break
  • Freeze Response: When confronted with the idea of leaving, your brain may trigger a freeze response, making action feel impossible

This isn't weakness—it's neurobiology. Your brain has been trained to fear leaving the same way it would fear a physical threat.

Fear Tactics Used by WMSCOG

Based on testimonies from ex-members, here are specific fear tactics used by WMSCOG to prevent members from leaving:

1. Hell and Eternal Damnation

The Tactic: Members are taught that leaving WMSCOG means leaving salvation. Since WMSCOG is portrayed as the only true church, leaving = rejecting God = eternal hellfire.

What They Say:

  • "If you leave, you'll burn in hell for all of eternity"
  • "There's no salvation outside God the Mother and the truth"
  • "You're choosing eternal punishment over temporary discomfort"

Why It's Phobic:

  • Creates existential terror that makes clear thinking impossible
  • Frames a personal decision (leaving a group) as cosmic catastrophe
  • Uses infinite punishment (eternity) to control finite behavior

The Reality: Thousands of people have left WMSCOG and similar groups. They didn't go to hell. Many report feeling spiritually healthier after leaving and finding more authentic faith or peace outside authoritarian control.

2. Disasters and Accidents

The Tactic: Members are warned that God's protection only extends to those in the church. Leave, and you're vulnerable to disasters, car accidents, fatal illness, and other calamities.

What They Say:

  • "Without God's protection, anything could happen to you"
  • "Ex-members have died in accidents because they left the truth"
  • "The world is dangerous without spiritual covering"

Why It's Phobic:

  • Creates paranoid thinking about everyday activities
  • Makes you attribute normal life risks to spiritual causes
  • Uses confirmation bias (any accident = proof you need the church)

The Reality: Ex-members aren't dying in accidents at higher rates than the general population. This is a manipulation tactic, not statistical reality. People leave high-control groups and live long, safe, healthy lives.

3. Spiritual Death

The Tactic: Even if you don't believe in literal hell, you're told that leaving means "spiritual death"—becoming empty, purposeless, and cut off from God.

What They Say:

  • "You'll be spiritually dead without the church"
  • "Your soul will wither and die outside the truth"
  • "Life has no meaning without God the Mother"

Why It's Phobic:

  • Attacks your sense of meaning and purpose
  • Creates fear of emptiness and existential despair
  • Denies that meaning exists outside the group

The Reality: Many ex-members report finding more meaning, purpose, and spiritual fulfillment after leaving. When you're no longer exhausted by constant church activities, you have energy to discover what truly matters to you.

4. Satan's Influence

The Tactic: Any doubts you have are framed as Satan attacking you. Anyone who criticizes the church—including your own family—is being used by Satan.

What They Say:

  • "Satan is trying to pull you away from the truth"
  • "Your family's concern is actually demonic influence"
  • "These doubts aren't yours—they're from the enemy"

Why It's Phobic:

  • Makes you distrust your own thoughts and feelings
  • Isolates you from support systems (family, friends)
  • Creates paranoid fear of invisible spiritual warfare

The Reality: Your doubts are your mind trying to process contradictory information. They're not demonic—they're evidence that you're thinking critically. Families who express concern usually do so because they love you, not because they're satanic.

5. Loss of the "Spiritual Family"

The Tactic: You're told that leaving means losing everyone who truly loves you. The church is your "real family," and they'll have to cut ties if you leave.

What They Say:

  • "We're your real family; your biological family doesn't truly love you"
  • "If you leave, you'll be completely alone"
  • "No one outside understands you like we do"

Why It's Phobic:

  • Weaponizes human need for belonging
  • Creates fear of abandonment and isolation
  • Ignores that conditional love isn't real love

The Reality: Friendships based on shared doctrine aren't true friendships—they're conditional relationships. Many ex-members rebuild healthier relationships with family and find new communities based on genuine connection, not shared dogma.

Recognizing Phobia Indoctrination in Your Own Thinking

Ask yourself these questions:

  1. When I think about leaving, do I feel physical symptoms of fear? (Rapid heartbeat, sweating, panic, nausea)

  2. Do I immediately catastrophize? (Jumping to worst-case scenarios like death, disaster, or eternal punishment)

  3. Do I have difficulty imagining positive outcomes from leaving? (Can only picture terrible consequences)

  4. Do I feel like I'm betraying God/truth/family just by considering leaving?

  5. Do I suppress doubts because thinking them feels dangerous?

If you answered yes to multiple questions, you're likely experiencing phobia indoctrination.

Breaking Free from Phobia Indoctrination

Overcoming manufactured fears is a process, not an instant switch. Here are evidence-based strategies:

1. Name the Fears

Exercise: Write down every specific fear you have about leaving. Get them out of your head and onto paper.

Examples:

  • "I'll go to hell"
  • "I'll get in a car accident"
  • "My life will have no meaning"
  • "I'll be completely alone"

Why This Helps: Externalizing fears makes them less powerful and allows you to examine them rationally.

2. Reality-Test Each Fear

For each fear you listed, ask:

  • What evidence supports this fear? (Usually: church teachings, testimonies, interpretation of scripture)
  • What evidence contradicts this fear? (Ex-members living well, other religions making similar claims, logical inconsistencies)
  • Is this fear based on observable reality or unprovable spiritual claims?

Example:

  • Fear: "I'll go to hell if I leave"
  • Evidence for: WMSCOG teaches this
  • Evidence against: Many religions claim to be the only true path; they can't all be right. Ex-members aren't reporting hell experiences. The concept of hell is debated even among Christians.
  • Reality: This is an unprovable spiritual claim used to control behavior

3. Research Other Ex-Members' Experiences

Read testimonies from people who've left WMSCOG and similar groups:

  • Did they go to hell? (No)
  • Did disasters befall them? (No more than the general population)
  • Are they spiritually dead? (Many report the opposite)
  • Are they alone? (Many rebuild social networks and families)

Why This Helps: Seeing that others survived and thrived after leaving contradicts the phobic conditioning.

4. Gradual Exposure

You don't have to leave immediately to start overcoming fear:

  • Step 1: Allow yourself to think about leaving without shutting down the thought
  • Step 2: Imagine positive outcomes (freedom, peace, authenticity)
  • Step 3: Talk to someone outside the group about your doubts
  • Step 4: Miss a service or activity and observe what actually happens
  • Step 5: Spend time with ex-members or people who understand

Why This Helps: Gradual exposure to feared situations shows you that the catastrophic outcomes don't materialize.

5. Challenge Black-and-White Thinking

Phobia indoctrination relies on all-or-nothing thinking:

  • Phobic Thought: "Either I stay and am saved, or I leave and am damned"
  • Reality: There are many paths to meaning, spirituality, and community. Leaving one group doesn't mean rejecting all faith or purpose.

Practice nuance: "I can question some teachings without being against God." "I can leave this group and still be a good person."

6. Connect with Your Pre-Church Self

Who were you before WMSCOG? What did you value? What brought you joy?

Why This Helps: Phobia indoctrination tries to erase your identity before the group. Reconnecting with your authentic self reminds you that you existed—meaningfully—before the church.

7. Seek Professional Help

Consider therapy with someone who specializes in:

  • Religious trauma syndrome
  • Cult recovery
  • Anxiety disorders and phobias
  • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Why This Helps: Phobia indoctrination creates real psychological trauma. Professional support can accelerate healing.

The Truth About Fear

Here's what WMSCOG won't tell you:

  1. Fear-based control is a manipulation tactic used by countless high-control groups. It's not unique to WMSCOG, and it's not evidence of divine truth—it's evidence of psychological manipulation.

  2. A loving God wouldn't terrorize you into obedience. Fear-based compliance isn't love, faith, or spiritual growth—it's coercion.

  3. Thousands have left and thrived. Ex-members of WMSCOG and similar groups go on to build meaningful lives, find peace, develop authentic spirituality (or not), and experience freedom.

  4. Your fear is manufactured, not prophetic. The intensity of your fear doesn't validate the group's claims—it validates that you've been subjected to effective psychological conditioning.

What Happens When You Leave?

Based on ex-member testimonies, here's what actually happens:

In the Short Term:

  • Fear and anxiety (yes, the conditioning doesn't disappear immediately)
  • Grief over losing community and the worldview you invested in
  • Relief and freedom from constant obligations and fear
  • Confusion as you figure out who you are apart from the group

In the Long Term:

  • Decreased anxiety as the phobic conditioning fades
  • Rebuilt relationships with family and friends outside the church
  • New communities based on genuine shared interests
  • Personal growth and discovery of authentic values
  • Peace from no longer living in constant fear

Most importantly: No hell. No fatal accidents. No spiritual death. Just life—messy, beautiful, free life.

Your Next Steps

If you recognize phobia indoctrination in your experience:

  1. Be Patient with Yourself: Overcoming deep-seated fears takes time. You're not weak for being afraid—you're human.

  2. Connect with Ex-Members: Communities like r/WMSCOG and examiningthewmscog.com provide support from people who understand.

  3. Continue Learning: Read about thought reform, cult psychology, and recovery. Knowledge is power.

  4. Plan Your Exit: When you're ready, see our step-by-step exit plan for practical guidance.

  5. Seek Professional Support: Therapists specializing in religious trauma can help you process and heal.

Additional Resources

  • Steven Hassan's "Combating Cult Mind Control" - Chapter on phobia indoctrination
  • Dr. Marlene Winell's work on Religious Trauma Syndrome
  • r/Deconstruction - Reddit community for those processing religious fear
  • Recovering from Religion Foundation - Support for those leaving religious groups

Related Resources

Remember: The fear you feel is real, but the threats aren't. You've been conditioned to fear leaving the same way someone might be conditioned to fear a harmless spider. The fear is genuine, but the danger is manufactured. You can overcome this. Others have. You will too.