The time from 2014 to 2021 was a period of abuse and destruction in my life. Since then I have managed to rebuild and recover some of what was destroyed. I have learned that the power of psychology to make abuse victims protect their abusers is very strong. Cognitive dissonance means that people prefer not to reflect back on times that they were scammed and when they bought into very bad ideas. Instead, they prefer to attack things in the present that provoke reflection into the past. This is a major reason people stay in cults and other abusive relationships.

Scammers attempt to produce cognitive dissonance in their victims because they know that this will produce loyalty in the victim. This is done by producing so much emotion in the victim that he can't evaluate the investment properly and he buys in before he can guess at its true nature. After this point, he does not want to guess. Fear, confusion, embarrassment, and love are all emotions that can be used.

The cure for cognitive dissonance is a willingness to go back in time and reflect on the past with the idea that you may have made a mistake. It is well known that people in abusive relationships deny that they are abused and that cult members don't think they are in cults. Take the attitude that you *may* be an abusive victim or cult member at any time. It is worthwhile to go back over things with this possibility in mind. Look for times when you made decisions under a lot of emotion. It may be painful to reconsider them but this practice is critical to life.

This is knowledge that I have had since 2013 but it is not knowledge that I have been able to impart to many people.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-i5SjbP2CKM