Why are people attracted to extremist cults?

Despite decades of progress, we are still tackling the big human issues. As psychiatrist Paul Hollinger (MD) wrote in his new book, It affects, Cognitionand language as the basis of human development“We deal with anti-Vax theory in about 80 years since German Nazi propaganda. COVID-19 (COVID-19) Pandemic, canon plot, climate change enemy, and key bias; prejudiceand racism” (2025, p. 143). To solve these problems, he says, we need to understand how early childhood development affects our behavior.

To learn more about this, I interviewed Dr. Hollinger, a professor at Psychiatry (Retirement) Former Dean of Rush University Medical Center, Chicago and Chicago Psychoanalysis Research Institute.

Our Important Development Foundation

Dr. Hollinger’s research reveals the key foundations of influence, cognition and language that we develop from early childhood, known as the “triad of information processing systems.”

• Impact Or, emotions are “our response to the stimuli that motivate us to do things.” According to Dr. Hollinger, there are two positive effects. It’s interest and fun. Surprising is the “reset effect,” and our negative impact includes pain. anger, fear, shameand disgust. All of these effects have facial features that cater to the infant.
• Cognition Including our thoughts, Memorylearning, and self-reflection.
• language We use words and symbols to express our perceptions and ideas.

Like young children, Dr. Hollinger needs to have a caring interaction with “good people who focus on positive impacts” and help them feel safe. Without these compassionate relationships, we get worse. He points to the work of Rene Spitz (1949) who studied orphans at an institution that provided food and basic physical needs but failed to develop human interactions. These children, who were hunger for love, experienced pain, fear, and shame. Many of them died.

Consequences of an abusive childhood environment

We now know children who grew up on emotional and physical abuse and drugs. Addictivemental illness, poverty, homelessness, crimeand Domestic violence You can suffer from fear, anxietyand depression (Hughes et al., 2017). Dr. Hollinger says these unhappy children are “highly likely to be horrified, painful, angry and embarrassed.” And he says, “with shame.” When children are physically punished, he explains, “they don’t get a sense of safety and belonging.” When children grow up in abusive environments, their unmet emotional needs remain as a permanent obstacle to living a healthy, balanced life.

Resilience and the Ray of Hope

But even emotional deprivation still has hope. As Dr. Emmy Werner, Ruth Smith, Ph.D. (1992) discovered in their pioneering research. ResilienceAs young people grow up in an atmosphere of poverty, abuse, addiction and negligence, only one caring adult can make all the difference. Neighbors, teachers, coaches, or other adults who truly see them will bring hope to them and light the path to a better life. Dr. Hollinger calls this relationship the “therapeutic alliance,” pointing to the work of Dr. Helen Beather (1988). Identity. Dr. Hollinger also said that at-risk mothers and their children who receive support from visiting nurses have fewer drug problems, better happiness and how emotional and physically they are. This cites studies showing whether people have become healthy (Olds et al., 2002).

The impact of emotional deprivation on America today

To understand why so many people today are drawn to violent cults and conspiracy theories, Dr. Hollinger states, “We need to go back to the roots of their negative influences — the pain they feel. , they say they need to understand anger, fear, shame. Without early compassionate relationships and therapeutic interventions, emotionally deprived young people grow up with a sense of underlying fear, pain and anger. Dr. Hollinger then explains that “poor social situations” can mobilize them and assault them with anger, anger and retaliation. He refers to the negative late period of World War I against the German people who experienced it. Humiliationshame, and economic deprivation that prepared them for Hitler’s Nazi extremism.

Today’s extremist groups provide emotional homes for those who are emotionally tormented. They give these people a reason for what they feel, a sense of belonging, unity, and an outlet for their rage. Dr. Hollinger also explains that extremist groups are offering people people who blame their poor condition because “in order to be in this violent group, they have to have an enemy.” .

I’m looking for understanding

To heal our broken community, Dr. Hollinger says we need to look under the surface of inconsistency to discover the emotional causes of bias, polarization and violence. He explains that not only are emotionally stolen people more likely to suffer and anger towards others, but humans share an innate tendency to “identify differences” with other animals. . This ability helps ancestors survive when they lived in small tribal groups, and approaching strangers can mean risk. Today, if people see people who are different from the threat to their safety, this survival instinct can lead to bias and racism.

To overcome such fears and prejudices, Dr. Hollinger highlights the important role of education. He studies evolution and history to broaden our understanding and learn more about how childhood deprivation makes us more susceptible to bias, polarization and violent extremism. It’s urging.

What you can do to repair a broken world

In today’s broken world, each of us can make a difference. As resilience studies show, one person can actively change the lives of a young person.

You may be the “one person” who can help young people in your family or community move from emotional deprivation to resilience and hope. Dr. Hollinger encourages each of us to:

• Please see more Children’s development– Take training or take classes.
• Play with babies and young children.
• Join organizations like the US Alliance to end the blows of children working to end their bodies. punishment.
• Become a private tutor.
• Volunteer with young people.
• Become a mentor.
• Talk to and listen to the young people in your neighborhood.

wisdom and bonding It connects our culture across generations. When we reach out to our neighbors with greater attention and compassion, we create a bond of acceptance and belonging that protects them from the darkness of the militant cult by bringing them a ray of hope. You can do it.

_____

This post is for informational purposes and should not be substituted Psychotherapy With a qualified professional.

©2025 Diane Dreher, All Rights Reserved.