Understanding the Role of Phobia Indoctrination in Religious Cults
Phobia indoctrination is a tactic commonly used by cults to convert and control their followers. High-control religions use this same tactic—systematically instilling fear to recruit people and then maintain control over them.
When you start recognizing how religious groups use these tactics, it becomes easier to identify them as what they are: religious cults.
Not every religious group operate this way, but many do.
Learning to spot these red flags can help you protect yourself and the people you care about.
Phobia indoctrination is one of the most significant warning signs of a high-control religion, and understanding how it works is often an important part of recovery for those who have experienced it.
What We’ll Be Covering:
Understanding Phobia Indoctrination
Phobia indoctrination is the deliberate and systematic process of instilling intense and irrational fears in people. It involves implanting fears about terrible consequences that will happen unless you adhere to specific teachings, rules, and doctrines of a person or group.
To understand how this works, it helps to look at the two components separately before seeing how they combine.
What is a “Phobia?”
A phobia is a type of anxiety disorder characterized by an intense and irrational fear or aversion towards a specific object, situation, or activity.
This fear is often triggered by a particular stimulus (trigger) and can lead to significant distress and impairment in day to day living.
Physical symptoms of a phobia response could look like rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, trembling, and avoidance.
While the fear may seem excessive or illogical to others, it is very real to you and can seriously impact your overall well-being.
It’s important for you to understand that a phobia is not generally something you just “get over.”
And it’s not uncommon for folks to need to seek out psychotherapy or medication to help them work through their phobias, at least until the phobias are better managed and not so overwhelming.
What is “Indoctrination?”
Indoctrination is a systematic method of teaching people a specific framework of beliefs, ideas, values, or ideologies.
In the context of high-control religion, indoctrination involves teaching a specific religious ideology with the goal of advancing a particular religious agenda or viewpoint.
This process attempts to influence people’s religious beliefs and practices, often starting in childhood and continuing throughout their lives.
The overarching goal is to foster a deep and unwavering commitment to the specific religious teachings, rituals, and traditions of that religious group.
Phobia Indoctrination: Combining the Two
Phobia indoctrination combines the intense, irrational fear characteristic of a phobia with the systematic teaching methods of indoctrination.
This process uses your fear responses as leverage to control what you believe and how you act.
In high-control religions, this method enforces adherence to specific religious doctrines.
For example, groups may instill a fear of divine punishment or social ostracism if you deviate from prescribed religious practices.
This combination is especially powerful because these intentionally fostered phobias can feel extremely real and overwhelmingly intense to the person experiencing them.
The Goal of Phobia Indoctrination
The goal of phobia indoctrination always begins and ends with control.
High-control religions use phobia indoctrination in two primary ways: to convert new members and to control current members.
Converting New Members
Religious cults use phobia indoctrination as a strategic tool to convert new members and influence their thoughts and decisions.
When people are in a state of intense fear and anxiety, they become more vulnerable to manipulation.
Fear can shut down critical thinking and reasoning, which makes people much more open to accepting whatever information or teachings they’re presented with.
Phobia indoctrination is a highly effective recruitment tool because it can draw in people who might have otherwise been skeptical or resistant to the group’s beliefs.
Controlling Current Members
For current members of high-control religions, phobia indoctrination maintains control over their beliefs and behaviors.
By constantly reinforcing the idea that deviating from prescribed religious practices will result in divine punishment or expulsion from the group, leaders can effectively manipulate and control their followers.
This keeps members in line and prevents them from questioning or leaving the religion because they’re too fearful of the consequences.
In this way, phobia indoctrination becomes a potent tool for maintaining power and influence over members.
Growing Up Indoctrinated
Many people were raised in high-control religions rather than converting into them later on.
In these cases, phobias become wired into children’s nervous systems while their brains are still growing and developing.
This often results in a deeply ingrained fear and belief system that is difficult to deprogram as adults.
When phobias are embedded during children’s developmental processes, many of these children go on to develop anxiety disorders, complex PTSD, and other mental health problems, both in childhood and later as adults.
That’s because when children grow up indoctrinated, they are systematically conditioned from a young age to believe that their religion is the only way and that any deviation from it will result in severe consequences.
So they become trapped in a cycle of experiencing harm within the religious group while also being too fearful to leave. It truly is entrapment.
How Religious Cults Use Phobia Indoctrination
Phobia indoctrination leaves people feeling dependent, powerless, and unable to make their own decisions—which is exactly why high-control religions use it so often.
When the group is successful in using these tactics, they can convince their followers that the only way to feel safe or achieve a sense of purpose in life is by following the strict religious practices dictated by the group.
What follows are some of the most common ways religious cults use phobia indoctrination.
Threats of Punishment
One of the most common tactics is instilling a fear of punishment in followers.
This is done by emphasizing the consequences of not following the group’s rules and doctrines, such as being condemned to hell or facing other forms of divine retribution.
This fear is often reinforced through religious teachings that portray god as wrathful and full of vengeance.
By instilling this fear, leaders can maintain control over their followers and prevent them from questioning or leaving the group.
Risk of Excommunication
Religious cults also create a fear of excommunication or shunning.
In these groups, being kicked out or ostracized by the community is often presented as a fate worse than death.
In some groups, this extends to eternal consequences of being cut off from family in the afterlife as well.
The fear of being rejected by their community—and more importantly, their family—becomes an effective tool for controlling the actions and thoughts of followers, who will do anything to avoid this punishment.
Creating Fear of “the World”
Religious cults use fear of the outside world to create a sense of isolation and dependence among their followers.
By portraying the rest of society as corrupt, evil, or dangerous, they convince their followers that staying within the group is the only way to stay safe.
This fear also discourages followers from maintaining relationships with family or friends who are not part of the high-control religion.
One especially harmful consequence of this isolation is that it prevents people from seeking help if they experience abuse or mistreatment within the group.
Amplifying Guilt & Shame
High-control religions use guilt and shame as a means of control.
By constantly reminding followers of their supposed sins and failings, religious leaders (and other members) keep them in a perpetual state of guilt and shame.
This makes it difficult for followers to feel worthy of leaving the group or seeking help, as they may believe that they are not good enough, or that they are responsible for the bad feelings they’re having.
It also creates a cycle of constantly seeking forgiveness and validation from god or from religious leaders, which further reinforces their dependence on the group.
Specific Examples of Phobia Indoctrination
The tactics above can take many different forms depending on the specific religious group and its teachings.
Here are some concrete examples of how phobia indoctrination shows up in high-control religions:
How to Start Recovering From Phobia Indoctrination
Many people continue to be affected by phobia indoctrination even long after leaving their high-control religion.
If this is the case for you, please know that recovery is possible.
And it’s also important to recognize that recovery can look different depending on your specific context, meaning the impact of phobia indoctrination can compound with other forms of oppression or marginalization you may have experienced.
For example, if your high-control religion also taught racist, homophobic, or transphobic beliefs, you may be working through multiple layers of harm.
And if you come from a culture that prioritizes family and community, recovery may involve finding ways to honor both your personal needs and your family or community relationships.
Here are some steps you can take to start the recovery process:
Educate Yourself
Learning about the tactics used by high-control religions to manipulate and control their followers can help you see through the fear-based teachings and begin to reclaim your sense of agency.
I recommend starting with Steven Hassan’s book, Combatting Cult Mind Control. He also has excellent resources on his website: Freedom of Mind
Jana Lalich is also another excellent resource. She has several books, and you can learn more about her other resources here: The Lalich Center
Rebuild Your Capacity to Question
Because religious cults and high-control religions suppress critical thinking and questioning, a significant part of recovery involves learning to question the beliefs that were instilled in you.
This process will look different for different people depending on underlying neurology or mental health conditions, so try to be aware of how these unique factors may also play a role in things like black and white thinking or ruminations as you go through this process.
Start by asking yourself:
The goal is to develop your own framework for evaluating beliefs and making decisions, rather than automatically accepting what you were taught.
Develop Community
If you have them, reach out to friends or family who can provide emotional support and a non-judgmental listening ear as you work through the effects of phobia indoctrination.
However, many folks lose much of their family and community when they leave a high-control religion.
If that’s the case for you, you may try connecting with others who have left similar groups through online support groups or in-person meetups.
You’re always welcome to join my private Facebook group, The Religious Harm Recovery Community to connect with other people who have also experienced phobia indoctrination within high-control religions.
Seek Professional Help
If you’re struggling with the effects of phobia indoctrination, professional support can be incredibly helpful.
Look for a therapist who has training in treating trauma and who understands mind control tactics.
If you’re also navigating racial trauma, queer or trans identity, disability, or other intersecting experiences, it can be especially helpful to find a therapist who understands how these experiences compound with religious trauma.
The Reclamation Collective offers a religious trauma Therapist Directory.
You can also find out more about working with me through Religious Harm Recovery Coaching.
Some people also benefit from medication to help manage the intense anxiety and panic that can accompany phobia indoctrination.
You can talk to your primary care doctor about this or seek support from a psychiatrist.
Compassion for the Fearful
Understanding how phobia indoctrination works is one of the most important steps in your recovery.
Once you can name these tactics for what they are—deliberate tools of manipulation and control—they start to lose some of their power over you.
The fear and anxiety still embedded in your nervous system from your time in high-control religion are very real responses to very real harm.
You were systematically taught to be afraid, which is why recovery from phobia indoctrination takes time, patience, and often support from others who understand what you’ve been through.
There’s no single timeline or correct way to heal, and some days will feel easier than others. That’s completely normal.
What matters most is that you’re here, learning about these tactics, and taking steps toward your own recovery.
If you’re reading this and recognizing your own experience in these pages, I hope you’ll consider reaching out for support—whether through community, therapy, or both.
A life free from fear-based control is possible, and you get to decide what that looks like for you.
Some Possible Next Steps:
If this article resonated with you and you’re wondering where to go from here, you might consider the following options:
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