It is vitally important to understand about dissociation, because in learning about how someone's mind can actually be controlled by someone else, you must understand how it is possible to program the human mind as you would a computer. «Programming» is a fairly recent term in the history of mind control (and is of course associated with computer technology). Perhaps you'd recognize it better as "brainwashing." In the POW camps, captors would refer to "freezing," a term used to destroy the person's identity. Using food and sleep deprivation, isolation, torture, chronic assault on a person's values, and instilling total dependence on the captor's for survival, a person's whole sense of self would be destroyed. They would be totally helpless, broken, with no will of their own left. They would then be ready for the "brainwashing," or «refreezing» whereby a new value system and a new identity would be put in through reward and punishment, conditioning or «programming» that person to believe or do only what the captors wanted them to believe or do. (For more information on brainwashing, including USA and Canadian government experimentation, read: Brain Control by Eliot Vallenstein; Deep Self by John C. Lilly; Inside the Black Room by Jack Vernon; In Search of the Manchurian Candidate by John Marks; Journey Into Madness by Gordon Thomas; I Swear by Apollo — author unknown — published by Canadian publisher.)
Just as it is possible to break down a person in order to create someone you can control (by getting them to do anything you want them to do), so it is possible to program a part of a person's mind (a dissociated part that is split off, by trauma or other means, from connection with reality). You can «teach» that part of the mind to do what you want it to do without the part of the mind that is conscious and aware knowing what's going on. Hence, people with multiple personalities report that they "lose time," whereby they don't remember where they have been or what they have been doing. Here is how a patient, repeatedly sadistically sexually abused as a child, explains it:
"Dissociation is a way of escaping the intolerable. I'm sure it happened first during the trauma itself, and was a sanity-saving way of dealing with overwhelming physical pain as well as the psychological pain of betrayal. For me it took the form of physical numbness and cold, and to this day, when I dissociate, I most often go numb. First my hands and feet go; I can't feel them, and if my eyes are closed, I have no sense of where they are in space. Then the numbness in my face starts. I can't feel my lips or cheeks. When I dissociate badly, the whole body goes and I feel and move like a block of wood… Worse than the physical dissociation is what happens mentally while the physical numbness is in place. I guess the only thing I can say in comparison is that it's the mental equivalent of white noise, or radio static, that can leave me blank-faced and staring into space. The thoughts that are there whip through at the speed of light with no coherence, organization or form. I get very confused. It can range from being a little vague and spacey to full white out where I don't see or hear much. This is really dangerous if I am driving. There have been some episodes where I don't remember getting someplace. I also sometimes just "clock out" and lose time. When I come back to myself I may not be immediately conscious that I've lost hours."
During that «dissociated» time, when she "clocks out," what is going on? Another part of the mind has taken over; in Penny's case, another personality is "in charge of" the body. This personality (or alter) interacts with others and carries out certain tasks, but when Penny "comes to" she has no knowledge of this other part of the self. As her therapist, I have talked to this other «person» inside (the person is really only a part of her mind) and I know the personality characteristics of this person. I know that this part of Penny responds to the name "Diane," she is outspoken and can get angry if challenged (as opposed to Penny, who is meek and allows others to tell her what to do). Diane also has a peculiar way of tilting her head, almost in a flirty, cocky manner, something I have never seen Penny do, as she is much more rigid and controlled, both in posture and feelings.
How do these dissociated parts get created? And how did «Diane» come to be? And why? To answer these questions, I will let a programmer herself tell you. This person was used from infancy in the United States Government mind control experiments, and her job as a youth and adult was to "split off" parts of others' minds in order to program those parts to do what the experimenters wanted them to do. By programming, I mean that the human, in a dissociated or altered mind state, has been systematically and deliberately taught lessons, attitudes, beliefs, behaviors and responses to specific cues ("triggers") so as to respond on command in ways that benefit the person/groups doing the programming. Just as Ivan Pavlov's dogs were taught to salivate to the sound of a bell, in anticipation of the meat that was delivered soon after, so human beings can be taught to respond in infinite ways to cues in their environment that «trigger» responses. Assume that first, the child has been exposed to torture and hideous psychological and physical abuse to the extent that the child has learned to dissociate into altered states of mind. (Remember as well that current electronic technology — as mentioned in Mega Brain — makes torturing children obsolete, in that trauma is no longer necessary to access altered brain states — thus, programming people is much «cleaner» and easier to do.) Here's how they do the programming:
"Daub fingertip size glob of vaseline or K-Y jelly on pressure points — wrists, inner elbows, behind knees, under ears. Take ends of 2 wires (black and red are easiest, negative/positive easier identified) with metal attachments (round, copper, holes in center) and tape with surgical tape on top of vaseline. Calibration — watch for muscular reactions, eye glazing, sweating, involuntary loss of bladder control, bowel control. Want to give enough of a current w/o being too much. Want child to remain alert. Words, codes given. Assignments given. 'Yes, one finger; No, raise two; Confused — raise right hand. Clarify instructions. If still confusion, time to stop, take a break. Do not allow any contact between patient and others until cycle is completed. Do not, under any circumstances, offer juices, snacks, etc. which could be construed as a 'reward' until the cycle is completed. Check carotid pulse for significant elevation in blood pressure. Do not wish to affect a heart attack. Heart attacks can occur in children. (Children are outfitted with diapers before the sessions begin, are also taken to the bathroom beforehand. Keeps down unnecessary interruptions). Keep voice on same level at ALL times. Not hurried, not raised or lowered. Same pace at all times. Droning, hypnotic effect. Helps to stabilize heart rate.