Psychocults as a type of sect

Over the past decade, psychocults have gained great popularity in Russia, mainly among young people. Sometimes they are disguised as personal growth trainings. “Marathons of Desires” are also the latest trend of our time, but unlike the former, they threaten only the material well-being of the participants. Psychocults are often destructive sects operating on the principle of suppressing personality through the use of various techniques for collective psychological influence, which provide the organizers with a high percentage of the participants. Real awareness of such trainings among Russians is low, the degree of involvement is even lower, but in the age group of 18 to 24, the percentage of participation increases many times over. It is noted that there is a need to raise young people’s awareness of the specific activities of such organizations in order to recognize and suppress attempts of destabilizing external influence in a timely manner.