Glossary

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Feeling perplexed about an acronym or term related to ritual abuse, mind control, or other forms of organized abuse? We’re here for you!

Here are some explanations, in alphabetical order, of common acronyms and terms:

List of Common Acronyms

Definitions of Common Terms:
A – J | K – R | S – Z

Note: There’s a list of our sources at the bottom of this Glossary. You can check it out for further information about any of these terms!

common Acronyms

  • C-PTSD – Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder 
  • CST – Child Sexual Trafficking (Organized Abuse)
  • DID – Dissociative Identity Disorder
  • DDNOS – Dissociative Disorder Not Otherwise Specified
  • ED – Eating Disorder 
  • GMC – Government Mind Control
  • GM/MC – Government/Military Mind Control
  • HT – Human Trafficking
  • IEM – Intentionally Externally Manipulated
  • MC – Mind Control
  • MPD – Multiple Personality Disorder (now referred to as DID)
  • OA – Organized Abuse
  • OEA – Organized Extreme Abuse 
  • OSA – Organized Sexual Abuse
  • OSDD – Otherwise Specified Dissociative Disorder
  • PTSD – Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
  • SRA – Satanic Ritual Abuse
  • RA – Ritual Abuse
  • RA/MC – Ritual Abuse, Mind Control
  • RAMCOA – Ritual Abuse, Mind Control, Organized Abuse
  • SIA – Survivors of Incest Anonymous (link goes to their webpage)
  • TBMC – Torture-Based Mind Control

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Definitions of common terms

Conditioning

The process of training or influencing a person or animal, so that they do or expect a particular thing without thinking about it (in other words, automatically).

An example is Pavlov’s studies on dogs. He rang bells just before feeding the dogs. Afterwards, the dogs would salivate whenever they heard a bell.

Dissociative identity disorder (DID)

A mental health diagnosis based on a childhood coping mechanism to deal with ongoing pain, trauma, and neglect. The child’s mind splits off emotions and sensations, personality traits and memories, and compartmentalizes them.

Over time these splits are experienced by the child or adult as unique identities or personality states. These identities or personality states are now commonly, and collectively, called a system.

People with DID will have different views on, and experiences of, their system. Their views and experiences should be respected, including how they refer to the unique identities and personality states within their system. For example, a person may call them parts, inner people, alters, or headmates, among many other terms.

DID is different for everyone. The degree of separation or dissociation, or the sense of full personhood a person with DID experiences, varies. Levels of amnesia and forgetfulness and styles of internal communication also vary from person to person. Parts, alters, or whatever term a person with DID uses, can each have their own likes and dislikes, ages, appearances, schedules, emotions, motivations, etc.

Some people with DID aim for integration, where they ultimately become one whole person. Others aim for cooperation between their parts, leading to healthy relationships with self and others, work and play. This is referred to as functional multiplicity.

Regardless, encouraging communication between all the parts of a person’s system, whether or not they choose to fully integrate, is the foundation for healing.

Dissociative Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (DDNOS)

The old name for Otherwise Specified Dissociative Disorder (OSDD).

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Functional Multiplicity

A treatment goal where a Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) system remains multiple, in whatever form that takes, as they heal. The system works together to navigate life, build internal communication, and learns to treat each other with compassion and kindness.

In the case of RAMCOA (Ritual Abuse, Mind Control, Organized Abuse), parts work together to get free of abusers, break the hold of programming, and rediscover a shared autonomy. A good analogy is learning to live together as housemates, having different needs and experiences, but working and living as a collective.

Note: Functional Multiplicity is often discussed in comparison to Integration. Both of these treatment goals are valid. Many systems choose functional multiplicity these days, whereas integration used to be the “gold standard” for treatment. Systems get to choose over time what works for them and enables them to live well.

Integration or Fusion (Merging)

A treatment goal where a Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) system fuses, or comes back together, to become one person. This is often done over time, through working on internal communication within the system, healing from past trauma, and respecting the short and long term goals of the parts.

Note: Integration is often discussed in comparison to Functional Multiplicity. Many systems choose functional multiplicity these days, whereas integration used to be the goal for therapy. Systems get to choose over time what works for them.

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Manufactured (also known as Engineered or Designer) DID or IEM systems

IEM stands for intentionally externally manipulated systems. These are DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder) systems that were purposely constructed or manipulated by external abusers (programmers), rather than the DID forming as a spontaneous response to trauma.

In IEM systems, system members (a person’s parts, alters, or whatever term they use) are often organized in a hierarchy. There can be deliberately created introjects, trained for specific jobs, and parts can have elaborate filing systems for storing knowledge. There may be many “backup copies” of various alters and programming.

There can be elaborate internal structures created by the programmers where the alters or system members are stationed for the abusers purposes and gains. For example, internal structures that keep system members separate from each other so they can’t communicate and find out about the abuse.

Mind control

Controlling someone’s mind, or having one’s mind controlled by another person. The person carrying out the mind control is in a position of power over the other person.

This is done through abuse, torture, and psychological tactics. A victim may be forced to repeat a passage over and over. They may be isolated from people outside an abusive group. Drugs and hypnosis, starvation, sleep deprivation, among other tactics, can also be used.

See also programming.

Note: In terms of the difference between programming and mind control, it can be helpful to think of a recipe. Programming would be the ingredients, while mind control would be the final product.

Multiplicity

The experience of having two or more separate selves within one body, with the body being controlled by different selves at different times; the experience of sharing a body; having more than one consciousness in a body.

This is a broad term that includes DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder).

Often people will refer to themselves as multiple, or plural, etc.

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Organized abuse

An umbrella term for abuse involving two or more abusers working together to abuse or harm those with less power and voice, usually children.

This abuse can take place in many forms and settings. Examples are:

  • Network abuse, involving networks of offenders acting together to target vulnerable children and/or adults.
  • Abuse within institutions such as a churches, or schools for “troubled” children, targeting and hurting the people they are supposed to help, and protecting the people in power who are carrying out the abuse.
  • Familial organized abuse, where families are structured into a culture of abuse and crime.

Ritual abuse and child sex trafficking are considered a form of organized abuse.

Otherwise specified dissociative disorder (OSDD)

A mental health diagnosis describing those with dissociative symptoms or experiences that don’t quite fit the criteria in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) for a specific dissociative disorder, like DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder).

An example might be people who have experiences similar to DID, but don’t lose time, have amnesia, or whose alters or parts are not fully formed.

Programming

An extreme form of conditioning. It involves abusing and torturing children to create dissociation, amnesia, internal structures, etc. Often drugs, hypnosis, props, and play acting are used to create altered states of consciousness and reinforce abuser messages.

This is done in order to control, victimize, and gain from survivors (for example, financially) over the course of survivors’ lives, without being stopped. And to make it difficult for the survivor to have needed information to escape or gain their own autonomy.

The term programming is based on the idea of trying to make the child act like a computer:

  • You put in certain inputs that result in certain outputs, without the possibility of change.

But people are not computers – there is always the possibility they can interrupt the input/output sequence, and in effect deprogram themselves.

Some survivors do not like the term programming because of the connection to computers, or it feeling too “all powerful.”

Some alternative words for programming can be: extreme conditioning, high control abuse, indoctrination.

See also mind control.

Note: In terms of the difference between programming and mind control, it can be helpful to think of a recipe. Programming would be the ingredients, while mind control would be the final product.

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RAMCOA

RAMCOA is the acronym for Ritual Abuse, Mind Control, and Organized Abuse.

Ritual

A way of doing something in which the same actions are done in the same way every time. Or a fixed set of symbolic actions and words, often part of a religious or mystical practices. Placing flowers on a gravestone, funerals and weddings, or saying a morning prayer are examples of rituals.

The word ritual is neutral, but the rituals themselves are either used in a benign or malignant way.

Ritual Abuse

The organized sexual, physical, psychological, and spiritual abuse of children and powerless adults.

Rituals are used as a form of indoctrination. They often involve prolonged and repeated torture with the aim of silencing, controlling, and terrorizing victims. Children are indoctrinated into a perverted religious, political, or hedonistic belief system which they may or may not believe themselves.

The form ritual abuse takes varies widely across countries. Native religions, holidays, and customs are incorporated into ritual practices. In the United States and Europe, satanism, witchcraft, and a perverted form of paganism are the most commonly encountered.

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System

A collection of selves inside a person with DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder).

Some people may refer to themselves as a collective, crew, parts, inner family, plural, etc.

Some people also have subsystems of selves, organized in different ways within their main system.

Torture

We are using the definition of non state torture (NST): intentionally inflicted extreme suffering and harm to another human being. NST is committed in private, rather than by a government, military, or medical institutions.

For example:

  • A child can be born into a NST perpetrating family.
  • An adult may develop a relationship with a person who perpetrates acts of NST.
  • Children and adults who are prostituted can be NST victimized.
  • Pornographers inflict NST when they’re producing torture/crime scene images.

There are specific actions that are considered torture, such as electric shock, withholding food or sleep for extended periods, water boarding, or repeatedly bringing a person close to death.

Torture-based mind control (TBMC)

Torture used to create control over another person. Also called engineered DID. This is often done through military, government, and medical institutions.

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Sources

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