Report on the "Rama" Computer Cult

7. MENTAL DAMAGE TO MEMBERS

"They want to believe in the magical world that Rama presents. They seem to function okay on the outside, but their internal world is very paranoid and fearful." Joe Szimhart - Exit counsellor - Santa Fe

All the followers who have left the group have suffered serious mental damage and disorientation. Some have reported agonizing months and years recovering from ill effects they blame on Lenz's methods. Anny Eastwood says she remained a hermit cleaning houses in Malibu for nearly a year until she got into therapy and began to heal. Nancy Knupfer suffered what she now believes was a nervous breakdown. She had been a $50,000 a year bank executive when she joined the group. When she left she was so shaken by the experience that she could no longer function as she had. A $4.29 per hour security job was all she was capable of doing.

Nearly all ex-members have been quiet about their experiences and are extremely reluctant to talk about it. Some of them fear retribution from other members of the group. Others are genuinely disturbed and require extensive counselling and therapy. For many of them the fear is based on their belief that Lenz has the power to make psychic attacks on them.

Brenda Kerber, mentioned above, was so distraught at not being able to meet Lenz's demands for money that she disappeared from her aparment in White Plains in the fall of 1989 leaving all of her personal possessions, her credit cards, and her identification behind. She has not been seen again. He parents believe that she may have committed suicide.

Donald Cole was a young college student who became a Rama follower. He committed suicide by stabbing himself in February 1984 just after returning from a birthday party for Lenz in San Francisco. He left a note which said "I didn't do well enough to remember. Bye Rama, see you next time."

There are a number of psychiatrists and counsellors who have treated former members who want to remain anonymous. All of them report that the ex-members have suffered some serious mental problems, some becoming psychologically unbalanced, or insane. Parents are advised that they should arrange counseling for ex-members of the group. The reluctance of former members to speak has made it difficult to obtain detailed or up to date information on the total effect of the experience.