Me, my autism and cults

By the time Richard Turner was in his mid-30s, he’d given away nearly all of his money to a church. Everything he held dear had been stripped bare by a religious community in the UK which claimed to have his best interests at heart. It took him years to piece together how this could have happened. It was only in recovery that he was diagnosed with autism, which he believes made him more susceptible to coercive control by a group he now regards as a cult.

For Heart and Soul, Richard takes us on his journey of self-discovery, sharing his faith experiences with other ‘cult survivors’, including one US man with Asperger’s Syndrome who has spent most of his adult life ‘cult-hopping’. How common are these extraordinary stories across the world? With very little academic research available, Richard is part of a growing movement working to understand the link between neurodivergence and cults.

(Image: Group Of People Against Blurred Background. Credit: Getty Images / Emmanuel Lavigne / EyeEm)