http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/13/fashion/13psych.html?partner=rss&emc=rss http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/11/13/style/13psych.php Sharing their Conspiracy on the Internet.
This is a quick follow up to the article sharing their Demons on the Web that came out November 13, 2008 in the New York Times.
I don't know how many of our website visitors out there have had a chance to read and digest this article that just came out in the New York Times and also ran in several other International papers, but I thought this would be a wonderful opportunity to shed some additional light on some portions of the article.
The Internet is a modern marvel of mankind. I have seen parents who's children are ill, and they have used every expert that the offline world can throw at them, only to fail. I have seen those same parents type in a few key words, and find help, love, support, and many times the answers that they were seeking. I personally see a similar pattern when it comes to those seeking help or assistance for their Gang Stalking.
They are seeking help and assistance, they have tried all forms of offline support and to no avail. Some have been on medication, thought of suicide, or are at their wits end, and then they find these sites. They find they are not alone, they find that their symptoms that they thought no one else would ever believe, are common place and everyday for the members of this community. They find understanding. Using these websites is a matter of choice, and when traditional practices have failed, then these websites have come to the forefront for help, support and even healing.
This quite lengthy and delightful article starts of by saying:
"FOR years they lived in solitary terror of the light beams that caused searing headaches, the technology that took control of their minds and bodies. They feared the stalkers, people whose voices shouted from the walls or screamed in their heads, “We found you” and “We want you dead.”
For the targets of Gang Stalking the harassment is often subtle and leaves very little trace. That is why it has for years been very difficult to muster up any support or awareness of what is happening to us. If voices were shouting from walls, many of us within the community would have been quite capable of going getting a tape recorder or video camera and taping what was happening to us.
The next paragraph of the article is fairly correct.
"When people who believe such things reported them to the police, doctors or family, they said they were often told they were crazy. Sometimes they were medicated or locked in hospital wards, or fired from jobs and isolated from the outside world."
Just like with our cousins in the mobbing community. Before workplace mobbing was studied and verified, targets of this practice were often not believed, were often left isolated, and at times driven to suicide, or other acts of violence. Our communities experienced the same things, before these support apparatuses were put into place. Please keep in mind that Gang Stalking has a lot of the similarities to what happens with workplace mobbing, except this does happen in the community and we are followed around.
The next paragraph goes on to say.
"But when they found one another on the Internet, everything changed. So many others were having the same experiences."
This is in part true. Things did change once we started to compare notes, and provide a support structure for each other. Before this, many of us did suffer in silence and anguish. Since starting the Gang Stalking World website, I have had people tell me, that their families were falling apart, but after finding a support source, and just knowing that they were not alone, it made a world of difference. That is one of the primary and key functions that this website and others like it does.
The next paragraph goes onto say:
"Type “mind control” or “gang stalking” into Google, and Web sites appear that describe cases of persecution, both psychological and physical, related with the same minute details — red and white cars following victims, vandalism of their homes, snickering by those around them."
I will grant that many of our experiences do have extremely similar facets, much in the same way targets of bullying and mobbing had similar experiences. I am not sure that I would agree with the fact that we all see red and white cars. The cars that follow Targeted Individuals around come in all shapes and sizes, but in the past, several targets have noticed overt similarities.
The next paragraph describes us as an extreme community.
"Identified by some psychologists and psychiatrists as part of an “extreme community” on the Internet that appears to encourage delusional thinking, a growing number of such Web sites are filled with stories from people who say they are victims of mind control and stalking by gangs of government agents. The sites are drawing the concern of mental health professionals and the interest of researchers in psychology and psychiatry."
I find this paragraph to be interesting. I am not sure that sharing stories and providing support encourages delusional thinking anymore than sharing stories of workplace mobbing, did for the targets of that harassment, or what exposure did for the targets of Cointelpro. I think history has shown that gathering together and providing support and awareness has been beneficial for targets of similar forms of harassment.
If these mental health professionals are concerned about these websites spreading delusional thinking, I am wondering what they would have said and how they would have pronounced the mobbing websites just 10 to 15 years ago. At the time before serious research was paid to workplace mobbing, believing that your co-workers were conspiring to harass you out of the workplace, and that human resources was a part of this conspiracy in some cases would have been seen as delusional, but with the advent of research into workplace mobbing, we now see that this is in fact a very real phenomenon and human resources have not only been involved at times, but it's become a common practice in some areas with what's called the psychiatric reprisal.
http://www.harassment101.com/Article5.html http://arts.uwaterloo.ca/~kwesthue/mobbing.htm http://mobbing-usa.com/ What mobbing websites have done for targets of Workplace Mobbing in shedding light and offering assistance is what Gang Stalking websites are doing now for the targets of this practice.
When targets of the state in Russia were declared delusional and mentally ill, the psychiatric community in those countries were a very dedicated force in silencing those individuals and cooperating with the state. If researchers into psychology and psychiatry are interested in studying this phenomenon let's hope that it's with an eye towards finding out the truth, and not with the intention of helping the state to further persecute, which is what happened in Russia.
The next paragraph expresses the concern that social networking websites that deal with gang stalking, and mind control might inhibit targets from seeking help and impede treatment.
"Although many Internet groups that offer peer support are considered helpful to the mentally ill, some experts say Web sites that amplify reports of mind control and group stalking represent a dark side of social networking. They may reinforce the troubled thinking of the mentally ill and impede treatment."
What I have personally seen a lot of the Gloria Naylor types. By this I mean, people who sought out traditional forms of assistance. They went to the police, doctors, lawyers, had the mental exam, etc and they still were not getting anywhere, the problems were still happening in their lives. Gloria Naylor is a famous African American Author who was also a target of this practice. She wrote a book about her experiences title 1996. She first sought out psychological help and even went on medication which did not help. It was only after discovering websites that dealt with mind control, that she finally received some help and assistance. In her own words she has since then been able to start to turn her life around. Traditional forms of support in her case and many others have not helped, and have not lead those suffering to finding solutions that would help or assist them with functioning.
I would hope that if this is going to be studied, that cases such as Ramona Lopez and Jesus Mendoza will be reviewed. There cases are well documented and they were both whistle-blowers that started to experience the same phenomenon after blowing the whistle. I would also hope that if this is going to be researched, that they will review how writing the book into the Buzzsaw was able to provide help and support to journalist who go through a very similar phenomenon.
http://www.freedomofthepress.net/intothebuzzsaw.htm Over the last two years, I find that many of the people who are visiting my site, have sought out traditional assistance, and realise that something else is going on. They seek out additional assistance after realised that they are not getting help with what is happening to them. I see people who do start blogs or video tape what is happening to them, and they say that it provides them with a sense of empowerment. I can say on a personal level that exposure of what is happening to me, has been one of the most cathartic things that I was able to do over the last 2 years.
The next paragraph says that:
"Dr. Ralph Hoffman, a psychiatry professor at Yale who studies delusions, said a growing number of his research subjects have told him of visiting mind-control sites, and finding in them confirmation of their own experiences."
This tells me that more and more people are seeking out help and assistance on the Internet. What it does not tell me is what happens next? After they visit these sites, do they stop seeking Dr Hoffman assistance, do they just find some comfort in the fact that they are not alone, or some other alternative?
“The views of these belief systems are like a shark that has to be constantly fed,” Dr. Hoffman said. “If you don’t feed the delusion, sooner or later it will die out or diminish on its own accord. The key thing is that it needs to be repetitively reinforced.”
That is what the Web sites do, he said. Similar concerns have arisen about a proliferation of sites that describe how to commit suicide, or others that promote anorexia and bulimia, providing detailed instructions on restricting food and photographs of skeletal women meant to be “thinspiration.”
With all due respect to Dr Hoffman, many of the people that I have spoken to, again had sought out traditional assistance and it was not working. They had tried to believe that things were maybe in their heads, but found consistent reasons to believe otherwise and went seeking out other answers. These are the majority of people that are ending up at my website. The same way many targets of mobbing end up at workplace mobbing and bullying websites, when first trying to understand their harassment and bullying.
Gang Stalking websites in many cases are not feeding a delusion anymore than mobbing or bullying websites are. They are giving targets similar stories, or a list of symptoms that are the same or similar to their own. They are helping them to find solace and often answers that had hither to alluded them. They also provide comfort and support.
The comparison of Gang Stalking websites to sites that encourage people to commit suicide, or revel in their eating disorders is an unfair, and unjust comparison. We in fact do the opposite. Gang Stalking websites, based on feedback that I have received, often help people out of some of the darker moments that they are going through. We strive in fact to stop people from committing suicide or other acts of violence. Knowledge is power, and we provide them with up to date information based on research, that many in the Gang Stalking community have been doing.
Before Gang Stalking websites were available, some people like myself used mobbing and bullying websites for support, but that did not quite answer all the questions or cover all the scenarios of what was happening to us. If visiting these mobbing and bullying sites were not harmful, then might it be supposed that visiting Gang Stalking websites could be having a similar and beneficial effect for individuals who feel that they are targets of this practice?
"There is no concise survey of mind-control sites or others describing gang stalking — whose users believe that groups of people are following and controlling them, as part of a test of neurological or other kinds of weapons likely conducted by the government — on the Net. But they are easy to find. Some have hundreds of postings, along with links to dozers of similar sties. One, Gangstalkingworld.com, welcomes visitors with this description: “Gang Stalking is a systemic form of control, which seeks to destroy every aspect of a Targeted Individual’s life. The target is followed around and placed under surveillance by Civilian Spies/Snitches 24/7.”
I am really glad to see that the article was kind enough to mention the Gang Stalking World website. I just wish that it had also mentioned that a program called Cointelpro was perpetrated by the American government and has very similar characteristics to what we describe as Gang Stalking. I wish the article had also mentioned that Cynthia McKinney,a former United States Representative had also requested to have Cointelpro investigations re-opened, because she believed that aspects of this were still ongoing.
http://www.cynthiaforcongress.com/bio.php "the sites provide the powerful, unfamiliar experience of being understood by others."
I think this paragraph more than anything else sums this up really well. These websites provide understanding. I can remember personally reading Mark M. Rich's the hidden evil for the first time, and I remember somewhere on his old site where it said you are not alone. After that I never felt alone again. There is something about connecting with others who are having a shared experience that is so cathartic, and amazing. You truly do not feel alone and for the first time I was able to connect with this stranger that was miles away, and feel truly understood. In the subsequent years, this is the feedback that I have received from the dozens of website visitors who have come through my site.
http://www.gangstalkingworld.com/Handbook/TheHiddenEvil.pdf “By and large, most people are sane and coherent and can relate exactly what’s happening to them,” Mr. Robinson said. “They can say the things that would otherwise get them labeled as delusional.”
People for the first time in years are free to be themselves and to say what they want to say, without someone saying that they are crazy. This is not only one of the amazing things about the Gang Stalking Support sites, but this is one of the amazing things about the Internet, and this is the concept that has helped the Internet to grow and to become what it is.
"Vaughan Bell, a British psychologist who has researched the effect of the Internet on mental illness, first began tracking sites with reports of mind control in 2004. In 2006 he published a study concluding that there was an extensive Internet community around such beliefs, and he called 10 sites he studied “likely psychotic sites.”
The extent of the community, Dr. Bell said, poses a paradox to the traditional way delusion is defined under the diagnostic guidelines of the American Psychiatric Association, which says that if a belief is held by a person’s “culture or subculture,” it is not a delusion. The exception accounts for rituals of religious faith, for example."
Since Gang Stalking World only began in 2006, and we don't predominantly deal with the mind control aspect of the targeting, I can assume that my website is not on the list that Dr Bell put together. I would however love to have a copy of this list, because even within the Gang Stalking, Mind Control communities, there are websites that are more helpful and useful than others. Before passing further judgement, I would love to see the 10 websites that he used when making his assessment.
"Dr. Bell, whose study was published in the journal Psychopathology, said that it does not suggest all people participating in mind-control sites are delusional, and that a firm diagnosis of psychosis could only be done in person."
Since diagnosis has to be done in person to formulate an accurate opinion about wither a person is delusional or suffering from a psychosis, I am a bit surprised that a remote assessment was made in regards to a whole community, but I again would love to read the research first.
"For people who say they are the target of mind control or gang stalking, there may be enough evidence in the scientific literature to fan their beliefs. Many sites point to MK-ULTRA, the code name for a covert C.I.A. mind-control and chemical interrogation program begun in the 1950s.
Recently the sites have linked to an article published in September in Time magazine, “The Army’s Totally Serious Mind-Control Project,” which described a $4 million contract given to the Army to develop “thought helmets” that would allow troops to communicate through brain waves on the battlefield."
I wish the article had pointed to the even more numerous articles on some of these websites in regards to proof that people are being followed around, and placed under watch.
The next paragraph points to Jim Guest a Republican State Representative, who just like Cynthia McKinney has also taken some of our claims seriously.
"And the users of some sites have found the support of Jim Guest, a Republican state representative in Missouri, who wrote last year to his fellow legislators calling for an investigation into the claims of those who say they are being tortured by mind control.
“I’ve had enough calls, some from credible people — professors — being targeted by nonlethal weapons,” Mr. Guest said in a telephone interview, adding that nothing came of his request for a legislative investigation. “They become psychologically affected by it. They have trouble sleeping at night.”
He added: “I believe there are people who have been targeted by this. With this equipment, you have to test it on somebody to see if it works.”
The article might have also mentioned that three states have now passed laws in regards to electronic harassment. In the last several years there has been forward momentum, because there has been a focus on exposure and awareness.
"Dr. Bell and some other mental health professionals say that even if the users of such sites are psychotic, forging an online connection to others and being told — perhaps for the first time — “you are not crazy” could actually have a positive effect on their illnesses.
“We know, for example, that things like social support, all of these positive social aspects are very good for people’s mental illness,” Dr. Bell said. “I wouldn’t say it’s entirely and completely positive, but it can be positive.”
Some research has shown that when people with delusions undergo group cognitive therapy, the group process can be helpful in their treatment
But the Web sites are not moderated by professionals, and many postings discuss the failure of medication and say that mental health professionals are part of the conspiracy against them."
Tim Fields when he set up his Bully support website was not a professional either. He in fact was a target of bullying. He was later accredited for his work in the field, because of the research that he did. He also started to find a link to suggest there was a conspiracy afoot with what was happening to many targets of bullying when they sought out help and assistance.
It's still unfortunate that with full knowledge of programs such as Cointelpro, MK-Ultra, and the situation in the former East Germany that some mental health professionals would conclude an assessment of mental illness before proper research into this phenomenon was thoroughly conducted.
http://www.bullyonline.org/action/obstruct.htm Again the above paragraph goes to show that people finding our websites, are trying out traditional forms of support, medication and psychological assistance which are not working, and they are seeking further assistance and locating our websites. Again I will point out that with the situation in Russia that happened, the mental health profession was a part of the conspiracy. We see similar patterns with McCarthyism and Cointelpro and organisations that should be trustworthy being parts of government conspiracies.
"“These people lead quietly desperate lives,” said Dr. Jeffrey A. Lieberman, chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University. “And if they are reinforcing each other and pulling people toward something, if they are using the Internet and getting reinforcement, that’s good.”"
I don't know that all targets lead desperate lives, however being a target of Gang Stalking and or Mind Control can have a stressful effect like none other. We are using the Internet to find support, encouragement and understanding, which is something that many of us we were not able to do before.
"Psychiatrists and researchers say it is too soon to say whether communication on the Internet among people who may be psychotic will negatively effect their illnesses.” This is a very complex little corner,” said Dr. Ken Duckworth, the medical director for the National Alliance on Mental Illness, an advocacy group. “Some people may find it’s healing, but these are really hard questions. The Internet isn’t a cause of mental illness, it’s a complicating new variable.”
Because being psychotic can and should be primarily assessed in person, I am still wondering where the conclusion is being drawn that the people frequenting these websites have a mental illness is to begin with? I can understand if this assessment is being based on people who have first visited traditional psychiatrist, but then this would also show that traditional forms of theory might not be helping and that people are still seeking out additional support. Ether way I found the article to be a fascinating read, and I am glad to add it to the collection of articles that have been acquired over the last two years, in trying to get to the heart of what has been happening to members of the Gang Stalking community.
With any support system, there will be good and bad. I would suggest that people still have more than one mechanism in place, but overall, no matter what you are going through, finding love support and understanding is a good thing.
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Sharing their Conspiracy on the Internet (Read 1205 times)
