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Snapping: America's Epidemic of Sudden Personality Change

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Snapping: America's Epidemic of Sudden Personality Change
First edition
AuthorFlo Conway
Jim Siegelman
LanguageEnglish
SubjectReligious conversion, Mind control
Publisher1st ed. Lippincott,
2nd printing Dell,
2nd ed. Stillpoint Press
Publication date
1978 ( 2005 )
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePaperback
Pages380 ( 365 )
ISBN0-397-01258-6 (1st ed.);
ISBN 0-440-57970-8 (2nd printing);
ISBN 0-9647650-0-4 (2nd ed.)
155.2/5
LC ClassBF698.2 .C66

Snapping: America's Epidemic of Sudden Personality Change is a 1978 book which describes the authors' theory of religious conversion. They propose that "snapping" is a mental process through which a person is recruited by a cult or new religious movement, or leaves the group through deprogramming or exit counseling. Political ideological conversions are also included, with Patty Hearst given as an example.[1]

Two editions of the book were published, the first (1978) by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins;[2] and reprinted in 1979 by Dell Publishing;[3] and a second edition (1995) by Stillpoint Press, a publishing company owned by the authors.[4][5]

Concept

Conway and Siegelman describe snapping as:

an experience that is unmistakably traumatic ... Sudden change comes in a moment of intense experience that is not so much a peak as a precipice, an unforeseen break in the continuity of awareness that may leave them detached, withdrawn, disoriented – and utterly confused.[4]

Snapping has been said to create the effect of an entirely new person, often completely different and unrecognizable.[6]

Information disease

Conway and Siegelman further proposed that a disorder which they named "information disease" was caused by alteration of the neurological pathways of the brain by group indoctrination and mind control activities.[7]

References

  1. ^ The A to Z of New Religious Movements, George D. Chryssides, Scarecrow Press, Jan 1, 2006, page 301
  2. ^ Siegelman, Jim; Conway, Flo (1978). Snapping: America's epidemic of sudden personality change. Philadelphia: Lippincott. ISBN 0-397-01258-6.
  3. ^ Siegelman, Jim; Conway, Flo (1979). Snapping: America's epidemic of sudden personality change. New York: Dell. ISBN 0-440-57970-8.
  4. ^ a b Siegelman, Jim; Conway, Flo (1995). Snapping: America's epidemic of sudden personality change. Stillpoint Press. ISBN 0-9647650-0-4.
  5. ^ Stillpoint Press; 20 Park Ave., New York, NY, United States,; Corporate officers: Siegelman, James; Conway Flo. Source: Company Intelligence Database, Thomson Gale;
  6. ^ Undying Love: The True Story Of A Passion That Defied Death, Ben Harrison, Macmillan, Feb 15, 2001 page 26
  7. ^ Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience: From Alien Abductions to Zone Therapy, William F. Williams, Routledge, Dec 2, 2013, page 319