Mindfulness For COINTELPRO　Victims　＃２

Psychology Abused


    Concerning causes of depression, compare the Stasi's instruction,"Perception," to the Seligman's psychological theory,"Learned Helplessness." You will find significant similarities between these two concepts. Learned Helplessness often leads to depression, and depression often causes suicide. To get victims to commit suicied is one of the two major goals of organized stalking/harassment as Rich pointed out in his book, “The Hidden Evil.” This is an evidence that psychological studies are abused in COINTELPRO and other power crimes. The most famous example in the U.S. history is Martin Luther King Jr., who was forced to commit suicide by FBI agents several times (Goodman, et al, 2007). Furthermore, Dr. Shibata (2012), who has been victimised by the organaized stalking/harassment for years in Europe and the U.S., recently published a book based on her own experiences of cruel harassment/tortures. In the book, Dr. Shibata reported that the perpertrators of these organized crimes are very familiar with theories in Social Psychology. Therefore, we should get familiar with psychological studies as well--particulalry therapeutic methods for depression-- in order to protect our and other innocent victims' life from the evil power crimes.


 I later found instructions to operatives on ways of crippling ‘oppositional’ people… It comes from the Directive 'Perceptions' ('Richtlinien, Stichpunkt Wahrnehmung'). It aims:


To develop apathy (in the subject)...to achieve a situation in which his conflicts, whether of a social, personal, career, health or political kind are irresolvable…to give rise to fears in him.....to develop/create disappointments.....to restrict his talents or capabilities.....to reduce his capacity to act and.....to harness dissentions and contradictions around him for that purpose....


On 18 January 1989—long before anyone could foresee the October demonstrations of that year—the state issued a further refined Directive called 'Zersetzungsmassnahmen'. The German word Zersetzung is harsh, and has no direct English equivalent… Zersetzung, as a concept, involves the annihilation of the inner self. The Directive recommended these methods:


[the] targetted spreading of rumours about particular persons with the aid of anonymous and pseudo-anonymous letters…making compromising situations for them by creating confusion over the facts ... [and] the engendering of hysterical and depressive behaviours in the target person (Funder, 2004).


"Learned Helplessness"
Learned Helplessness has also been related to certain forms of depression (Seligman, 1975). People who suffer a series of uncontrollable aversive events – loss of a job, pysically illness, divorce, and so on – may become extremely passive and despondent. Like animals exposed to inescapable shock, they show little interest in improving their lot in life (Russell, et al, 2009, p. 366).

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Funder, Anna. Stasiland: Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall. London: Granta Books, 2004. Print.

Goodman, Amy, and David Goodman. Static: Government Liars, Media Cheerleaders, and The People who Fight Back. 2007.

Mark M. Rich. The Hidden Evil, Lulu.com. 2009

Russell A. Powell, et al. Introduction to Learning and Behavior, 3rd Edition. 2009.

Shibata, Tomo. The Invisible Maiming Torture Enterprise of Organized Stalking Assaults. 2012.

Mindfulness For COINTELPRO Victims #1

Depression and Mindfulness

    Depression is one of the most serious mental illnesses, which can even lead to suicide. Although quite a few people suffer from this mental disease, there is no “magic pill” to cure depression. If we can find an effective treatment, it will be a great relief for patients. As a matter of fact, meditation is now considered to be the one. However, in Japan it is reported that some temples refuse to accept people with depression for their meditation activities, since they believe meditation could deteriorate symptoms of depression. Therefore, in this journal, I will discuss whether meditation, especially the one introduced as “mindfulness meditation,” could help improve mental health of people with depression. To begin with, there is a significant research on this topic with the title of “How Does Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy Work?” (Kuyken, et al, 2010).

     In Kuyken’s research, a sample of 123 patients was collected randomly from people who had suffered from symptoms of depression three times or more and were receiving therapeutic dose. Subsequently, mindfulness based cognitive therapy was given to these patients. Then, they were divided into two groups; one group continued medication dose simultaneously, and the other group stopped taking any medication and received mindfulness based cognitive therapy only. The researcher observed if any depression symptoms relapsed or recurred to the patients over 15 months and examined their severity of symptoms. Recurrence means patients’ making negative judgments towards their own thoughts and consequent suffering from hurtful mood. Recurrence is caused by habitually reacting to the negative thoughts. This symptom is also called “reactivity” in this research.

    The researcher found that after mindfulness-based cognitive therapy was provided to the patients, they experienced less severity of depression symptoms. As a matter of fact, the patients still encountered recurrence, such as self-aversion and self-judgment, in the first three sessions of mindfulness therapy. Some of them reported that they thought: “I am just more aware of how badly I feel.” Nevertheless, they became able to step back from their negative thoughts, and prevent self-criticism from generating bad mood. In other words, they learned to “consciously choose thoughts, emotions, and sensations rather than habitually react to them” (Kuyken, et al, 2010). The cognitive skill which enabled the patients to "conciously choose" their reactions was voluntary awareness of here and now, that is to say, mindfulness.           

     In terms of generalizability, on the other hand, the researcher admits that they need more replicating researches since their small sample and binary outcome in the recurrence were not adequate to make solid conclusion. Moreover, the research probably needs cross-cultural study on the relationship between self-criticism and depression. For instance, in Japanese culture, self-criticism is not necessarily regarded as a bad habit, and self-criticism does not relate to depression as often as in the Western culture.

     Nonetheless, it is significant that Kyuken’s research asks not “Does mindfulness-based cognitive therapy work?” but “How does mindfulness-based cognitive therapy work?” To answer this question, the researcher implemented another experiment to identify what aspects of mindfulness therapy worked for improvement of depression care. They discovered that enhancement of self-compassion had nullified the relationship between reactivity and its detrimental consequences. In a nutshell, detachment from their negative thoughts is the step stone to better handling with depression symptoms, and mindfulness practice, even for several months, can enhance the skill.      






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