"Once you’re in that person’s domain, that’s where the fear and violence comes in. It doesn’t have to be physical – that’s why the new British coercive control law is so wonderful. It can be isolation, controlling your money and communications, taking your phone away, frightening you but not necessarily physically, and it can be through threats. These things very much apply to both cults and domestic abuse. All of it is about arousing fear in the victim. Once you’re fearful and they’re the only person you’ve got, you will go towards the only resource you have, which is the person who is frightening you. If I’m frightened I go and see my friend or call my mum, it’s instinctive. But when the only person left is the frightening person, you are trapped. You’re trapped emotionally, clinging to them, hoping they alleviate the pain, but that never happens so you end up in a feedback loop of fear. From there, you cognitively dissociate and become unable to think about the situation you’re in. That’s why it’s so hard to understand, from the outside. People say, 'Why doesn’t she just leave?' about someone in a relationship, and 'Why didn’t they just leave?' about someone in a cult. They’re trapped there by a trauma bond and unable to think clearly for themselves."