ADVICE FOR THOSE WHO ARE TARGETED: Sensitization Be careful of assuming that people are perpetrators. Familiarize yourself with the concept of "sensitization" because this is how you are behaviorally conditioned to respond to the perpetrators. There are activites that are designed specifically to let you know that someone is a perpetrator. They will do this intentionally in order for you to know that you are being stalked. For example, let's say that for a period of time you saw people with compasses everywhere, and then it stopped. It is very unlikely that this is just a coincidence because virtually no portion of the population carries compasses with them and uses them randomly in public (Note: you are not in a campground or at a Scout meeting when this happens). So when you see someone using a compass, it is to communicate a non-verbal message that you are being stalked. Similarly, someone who gives me the finger when I am on foot is 99.9% likely to be a perpetrator, since I am not doing any behaviors that would cause someone to give me the finger, such as driving aggressively or even looking disapprovingly at someone (that's stretching it a bit, but just to illustrate that it is not a "provoked" finger). Sensitization has a domino-like effect. The perpetrators only have to push the first domino down because the rest will fall by themselves. These people are capitalizing on human psychology. Once you are made aware that you are being stalked, the tactics can become more subtle and can even become indistinguishable from normal, everyday occurrences. Chances are that you will lose perspective on what is "normal" after a while and begin to react to things that are no longer perp-related. Here is an example. For a period of time, perhaps 1 month, they send many perpetrators around you with laptops. They do some obvious things like stare at you for very long periods of time, or smile mockingly to get your attention, or even do bizarre hand movements - something out of the ordinary to grab your attention. As a result of this "blitz" campaign, the laptops then become associated with perpetrators in your mind. This is the intention of the perpetrators. You are now "sensitized". (Or the first domino has been pushed down by the perpetrators). After this, they can reduce the number of people around you who are carrying laptops and acting bizarrely to the point where they may stop altogether. This is because now you ASSUME that anyone carrying a laptop is a perpetrator. (The rest of the dominos fall by themselves).   The problem is that a certain part of the population naturally carries laptops with them. However, if they have conditioned you so well that you lose track of what is "normal", you are going to feel stressed everytime you see a stranger with a laptop. The more laptops you see, the higher your anxiety (and anger) will climb. If you are very stressed, then they can have the added benefit of watching you attack someone carrying a laptop, and maybe even get you charged with assault. In the end, it doesn't matter if that person is a perpetrator or not - you have been conditioned to think he is. This applies to any kind of conditioning. It could be white vans that they condition you to. It could be red t-shirts that they sensitize you to. It doesn't matter because once you are sensitized, YOU will be your own worst enemy. We have to be constantly vigilant to remember what is "normal", and not assume that every white van, or every person in a red t-shirt is a perpetrator. We have to resist becoming sensitized. If you can say to yourself, "This may not be a perpetrator - I can't make that assumption," then it forces the perpetrators to show their hand very blatantly in order to get your attention. This means that they risk exposure. But if you react to the smallest thing, then the sensitization has gotten the better of you and the perpetrators have won. It is possible to resist becoming sensitized, so don't give up trying. How We Can Fight This The best way to fight this is by getting together and supporting one another. By keeping the victims isolated, the perpetrators have little fear of their activities being discovered. But together we have strength. Little by little we can raise the awareness in the public that this is happening. In therapeutic circles this is called "normalizing". That is what happens when someone says, "It's OK for you to say you are being gang stalked because it is taking place". In other words, something considered "abnormal" by a skeptical public is made "normal" by the weight of our testimonies. Like women who once were too ashamed to tell people that they had been raped because it carried a serious social stigma, people who are gang stalked are seen as immediately crazy without being given the benefit of the doubt. What will give us the credibility and acknowedgement that we have a right to is the "normalization" of the idea that gang stalking happens. There is a risk in networking because of the nature of the perpetrators to overwhelm victims, but we can't let that stop us. Otherwise, we may wait a very long time to be believed, if ever. There is an online forum created by Eleanor White (www.multistalkervictims.org). Eleanor is a dedicated activist who works relentessly to get the word out to people that this is happening. Please see her site for the instructions to join the forum. See Links for more groups.

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