Physically leaving such a group is relatively easy, but the emotional and psychological departure can take months or even years. This is why many people do not understand how any person can stay within a situation of religious abuse much the same way that people fail to see how battered women stay with their abusers. Such dysfunctional and destructive groups often use manipulation, fear, and deception to maintain a hold on members.
Groups also control and distort information from the outside.
Ambiguity, doubts, and serious questions are not tolerated. The authority of the group's leadership is virtually absolute. It is no wonder, therefore, that the religiously abused frequently suffer from emotional and psychological problems. I believe that it is high time that our society recognizes and deals with religious abuse as a social-psychological disorder in itself. Isolation and loneliness the shock of crossing the barrier from one social environemnt to another.