Galilee Bistline

No man is your friend, no man is your enemy, all men are your teacher.

That question hit me like a thunderclap at one of the most painful, confusing times in my life. I was forced into the unforgiving world of a single mom and was desperately floundering financially, physically, and even mentally as I stood witness to unimaginable trauma—watching the people I love suffer while I was restrained from helping them—I was told, “You’ve been brainwashed.” Not once, but repeatedly. By people who claimed to care. People who, I believed, wanted the best for me.

But instead of offering comfort or support in the midst of chaos, they chose judgment. Instead of asking me how I was holding up, they questioned the integrity of my mind. At first, I didn’t know what to do with that accusation. Part of me wanted to shout back, to prove them wrong. Another part of me froze. I started to doubt myself. What if they were right? What if I had been brainwashed? Would I even be able to tell?

So, I began to dig. Not out of fear, but out of a deep desire for truth.

That decision—to search, to study, to understand—led me on one of the most transformative journey of my life. I researched brainwashing, coercion, psychological manipulation. I read stories of survivors from high-control groups, cults, emotionally abusive environments. I learned about how fear, isolation, and control of information can chip away at someone’s ability to think for themselves. And I compared those patterns to my own story.

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