AEthics of APA's Goldwater Rule
“Section 7.3 of the code of ethics of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) cautions psychiatrists against making public statements about public figures whom they have not formally evaluated. The APA's concern is to safeguard the public perception of psychiatry as a scientific and credible profession. The ethic is that diagnostic terminology and theory should not be used for speculative or ad hominem attacks that promote the interests of the individual physician or for political and ideological causes.”
Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online June 2016, 44 (2) 226-235,
Barry Goldwater vs. Ralph Ginzburg
Goldwater vs. Ginzburg
An answer I had searched for about Bobby, myself and fellow cult members… in the cult, we were forbidden normal social interaction, somewhat, a ‘secretive life’. This phenomena baffled the outside world. They called Bobby “unpredictable” all the time — Bobby ended up doing something entirely different than what they presumed he would. Some baffled how they did not know Bobby. But, Bobby described doing this… and times he may have seemed to give mixed signals, fitting in the world around him — whilst letting “his other side” slip when he told Larry Evans, “the world is coming to an end,” — as if two separate mentalities are at work,
“…I kind of split my life into two pieces. One was where my chess career lies. There, I kept my sanity, so to speak, and my logic. And the other was my religious life. I tried to apply what I learned in the church to my chess career too.”
- Bobby Fischer
https://hwarmstrong.com/ar/Fischer.html
I recall doing things like this in my youth. You had to. It was necessary, how else would you function around people who did not share your beliefs, and further, we were forbidden to discuss with the outside world.
It has a name:
“…Psychology defines “COMPARTMENTALIZATION” as a defense mechanism, or a coping strategy, which doesn’t impart a very good connotation. Put simply, it’s how our minds deal with conflicting internal standpoints simultaneously. Some examples would be: a doctor who is religious, but has to separate her belief system from her practice at a women’s health clinic; a man who leaves his office at 6pm, and refuses to think about work for the rest of the evening, so he can enjoy his time with his family or, at its extreme, soldiers who need to file away the trauma of horrific events in their minds, so they can continue operating in battle.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanblair/2012/06/26/5-steps-of-compartmentalization/#5c10965a1a62
“…Coping strategies are short-term solutions, and they have positive and negative aspects. You want to compartmentalize, but not push out. For instance, those soldiers I just mentioned; pushing out trauma works in combat, but once they come back to their regular lives, they often find those pushed away memories coming back to haunt them, like in cases of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.”
Bobby described some of the same psychological damage as described in the following paper, which involves “Compartmentalization” — how cults change people, into a different person, “Disassociation”:
The Dictionary of Psychology states that the term dissociation is
“…Used generally to characterize the process (or its result) whereby a coordinated set of activities, thoughts, attitudes, or emotions becomes separated from the rest of the person’s personality and functions independently. Mild forms are seen in compartmentalization … more extreme forms are observed in the dissociative disorders. (Reber & Reber, 2001)
BOBBY FISCHER:
“…once you start distrusting your own mind, you're finished.”
“…this idea of Herbert's that you can't trust your own thoughts-that's the key doctrine that I think has to be blasted out. I would say that if there's one thing that is the whole essence of Armstrongism, that's it. That's how he screws up your mind. That's how he hangs on to people.”
“The pressure he puts on you! You can't do this, you can't do that, you can't tell your friends this, you can't see unconverted people, you can't eat this, you can't eat that, on the sabbath you have to rest, you have to listen to the radio program every day, you have to study the correspondence course… and then you're supposed to pray…”
https://hwarmstrong.com/ar/Fischer.html
An Investigation into Cult Pseudo-Personality: What Is It and How Does It Form?
“…I was a stranger to myself. Magdalene is still present in me, and her voice is different from mine. I fight her a lot of the time because they told us our parents deserved to die. I am exhausted and mixed up.
Jenny’s very self, and her personality, were sharply changed and deeply and utterly affected by the experience of being with this group of people.”
https://www.icsahome.com/articles/pseudopersonality
Same cult M.O. is described,
“…then they get sucked in, and suddenly a few lies get mixed in. They are told that their human nature is wicked…” -Bobby Fischer
“…She was…told God was angry with her for her “bad attitude,” …Later, they told her God would reject her (she would go to Hell) if she did not change her attitude and become more surrendered to God and the community.” - Jenny
“…and these nice people who gave them all these things wouldn't be lying to them, would they?” -Bobby Fischer
“…She felt angry with herself and ashamed for questioning in the first place… Her fellow’s whole demeanour changed, becoming cold and hard; and she said in a chilling voice that Magdalene had no right to question such a request… She soon learned that, if she complied, she would feel accepted and a part of things, and, if she did not, she would receive similar rebukes and, often, silences.” - Jenny
BOBBY FISCHER:
“…Church members shouldn't let themselves be confused. They begin not trusting in their own judgment, and then they're finished. That's a terrible, terrible thing. First, they get conducted in with a nice sweet program, no money, everything free, free, free. And then they get sucked in, and suddenly a few lies get mixed in. They are told that their human nature is wicked and these nice people who gave them all these things wouldn't be lying to them, would they? And then I think once you start distrusting your own mind you're finished. From there you just get more and more confused. Once you think that your own mind is not your friend any more-your own conscience and your own mind is not your friend-then I think you are on your way to insanity. You have been stripped bare. All your defenses are gone. You must trust Armstrongism, his ministers, doctrines, and organization. Otherwise you're going in the wrong direction, and you know where that leads.
Herbert Armstrong claims to be freeing you from the world's churches, freeing you from all the trash you've heard all your life. He's freeing you, and finally you're coming to know the truth that will set you free, free, free, and the next thing you know you are really a zombie..”
https://hwarmstrong.com/ar/Fischer.html
Quacks giving “diagnoses” of Bobby Fischer when experts admit:
“…topics related to cult involvement, something that the mental health field tends to know little about…” - Psychology Today
*THIS* is why if any person attacks or criticizes Bobby Fischer, I feel rage toward them. They completely lack comprehension of the devastation the cult had on Bobby… I remember going the same direction he took with his life, and know exactly how I got there. You're isolated, your activities controlled, taught to question your own mind, judgment, reality, till nothing is left… and an altered reality with persistent threat the “world is coming to an end.” Every news headline, is filtered through the Bible and sanitized by cult leader Armstrong. You are trapped in an altered reality, different than others. And after 15 years of getting threatened with Nazi death camps coming to invade the USA… when he investigated their literature, (he was Autistic in addition to the mess he was in), but was credulous (lacking in life experience due to the cult isolating him for 15 years and conditioning his every thought) — and wasn't prepared to see through the menacing deception that is in Nazi literature. They wrap nuggets of a fact (i.e., yes, there was a man named Karl Marx, but he was an Atheist, not a Jew, and yes, Marx lead the Communist Revolution… not to promote Judaism, as the Nazi lies claim) bits of truth with layers and layers of lies.
Bobby Fischer fell into their trap of deception — in his mind, the “Judeo Bolshevik World Conspiracy Myth” took root.
Most of these experts have dealt with persons who fell prey to one cult, but seldom or never TWO.
Bobby Fischer was preyed on by the
- The Herbert W. Armstrong Religious Cult
- The Antisemitic Political Cult
How “intelligent” do Bobby's critics expect him to have been to have magically navigated his way out of such a cult-induced mental hell hole? Hypocrites would've barely survived the first cult, so they should not criticize and condemn what they don't understand themselves. I do understand because I lived through it.
“…I just returned from the International Cultic Studies Association's (ICSA) annual conference and wanted to tell you about soul murder, the term coined by psychoanalyst Leonard Shengold to describe the intentional attempt to stamp out or compromise the separate identity of another person.That is what destructive cults do. My interest in cults grew out of my shock many years ago upon discovering how deeply my brother was involved in Transcendental Meditation (TM), so deeply that he lost the ability to think for himself. Since then I have treated a number of patients who had been profoundly damaged by cults, and when I heard about the International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA) some years ago, I joined and have attended and presented on topics related to cult involvement, something that the mental health field tends to know little about…”
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-mind-body-connection/201407/cults-and-the-mind-body-connection
The Brad Darrach article republished in NY Times that claims Bobby planned to buy a house and adapt to a normal life, really bothers me, because everyone knows — that did NOT happen. Fischer's nerves fell apart after 1972. During that same time period (late 1960's and early 1970's) the church was telling members to prepare for the “escape to the place of safety”.
Fischer speaks of it in his 1977 interview, when the church didn't flee, he became very upset with Herbert Armstrong:
“…I thought, “This doesn't seem right. I gave all my money. Everybody has been telling me this [1972 would be the date the WCG would flee to a place of safety] for years. And now, he's half-denying he ever said it when I remember him saying it a hundred times.”
https://hwarmstrong.com/ar/Fischer.html
He'd given all his money to the church (not bought a house) which fits in the scenario given in the “Flying Free From Fundamentalism” account… members were preparing for an exodus. Grummette does confirm Bobby said something to the effect of buying a house(s) (this is NOT an endorsement of Brad Darrach)… but Lina Grummette also states, “…but then who can tell about Bobby?” As if she had reservations, doubts or suspicions that he'd do something entirely different.
That's what I was searching earlier, about cult-related “Compartmentalization” where Bobby described “splitting his life in two pieces” — one person, but living two very different ‘lives’… where people really don't see the other side of who you are and what you really believe. People considered him unpredictable… it's a coping mechanism, and he wasn't allowed to discuss his religion with the public.
I do notice she knows Bobby doesn't like reporters, and yet here she is, speaking to one. I wonder how that boded with Bobby after he found out. The “paranoia” of media, is explained by Grummette… and I really like the way she puts it. This explains a lot of the reason Fischer became very stand-offish toward the media, after 1972-1973.
My guess is Bobby knew a lot of “friends” (as I myself have complained) — they only liked him because he was a chess champion… not for “Bobby” and who he really was. He was distrustful of people, and having Autism, it's really hard to detect what people are really thinking, or ulterior motives. He was distrustful… which may also help account for some of the so-called “paranoia” toward people… thinking people were spying on him to run to the press. Using him for media exposure. After all, they had done it to him, again and again.
