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Overheard a former follower of NXIVM talking at a coffee shop near my office last week...
She said they made her track every minute of sleep for 2 years and report it to a 'coordinator'. I couldn't believe how much control they had over something so basic. How do these groups get people to hand over stuff like that without seeing the red flags right away?
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amy_martin2d agoMost Upvoted
Oh PLEASE, tracking sleep for TWO years? That's just a REALLY intense version of what I do every Monday morning when I lie to my Fitbit about getting 8 hours. I bet that coordinator was also in charge of making sure nobody sneezed without permission. Honestly the red flags thing is easy to miss when you're being told it's for your own good and everyone else is doing it too.
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violag802d ago
Did you catch that podcast episode where they interviewed a former member of a similar group? She said they made her send a photo of every meal to her "growth partner" for three years straight. The really wild part is she said by the time you're tracking sleep or food or whatever, you've already given up so much other stuff that the little things don't seem like a big deal anymore. It's like boiling a frog slowly - the heat gets turned up so gradually you don't notice you're cooked until it's too late.
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willowr962d ago
That line about being told it's for your own good really hits the nail on the head, @amy_martin. It's the same pattern you see everywhere from those viral wellness influencer groups to some corporate team-building retreats where they make you do trust falls or log everything you eat. The scary part is we all probably know someone who has gotten sucked into this kind of thing, and they always look back and say the control just crept up on them one small rule at a time.
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