What is RAMCOA?
RAMCOA is an acronym that stands for "Ritual Abuse, Mind Control, and Organized Abuse." While victims of these types of abuse have varied experiences, there are several common threads that allow for their specific type of trauma to be classified as falling underneath the RAMCOA umbrella.
The accounts that fall under this umbrella describe a specific type of repeated, systematic abuse, beginning in childhood. This abuse is often transgenerational or extra-familial.
Programming is also a common thread among RAMCOA survivors. Programming refers to both the method and the result of teaching the mind unquestioned obedience. Programming is often triggered/activated by specific words, phrases, signals, or events. The dissociation and amnesia that is experienced between alters of a DID system help keep the programming secret from everyone except the abusers and (sometimes, not always) the alter who has it. Since programming relies heavily on the creation of alters for specific purposes, it is accompanied by severely traumatic experiences to both cause an alter to split, and to teach that alter the program that the abuser is attempting to instill. Some examples of these methods include, but are not limited to, extreme pain, hypnosis/trance, torture, sexual abuse, drugs, deprivation of basic necessities (sleep, food, water), loud noises, extreme temperatures, and strobing lights.
Polyfragmentation is common in systems who have experienced this sort of abuse, as are more complex dissociative structures. For example, subsystems, detailed headspaces, and headspace layers are more common in RAMCOA victims due to the severity of both the abuse and the dissociative barriers it causes.
What can i do?
In the face of such horrible atrocities, it is likely that some people will not want to sit on the sidelines while such abuse occurs elsewhere in the world. While nobody can truly define what always helps a survivor, there are a few ways to help the survivor feel less alone.
If a survivor trusts you enough to tell you that they are a victim of RAMCOA, do not discredit them. It's better to believe someone who is lying than to deny someone who may actually be calling out for help. The nature of the programming utilized in RAMCOA is intended to be purposefully farfetched, as a means of making the victim seem "crazy" or "delusional."
Do NOT try to deprogram someone on your own. Complete, proper deprogramming must be done by a professional. If one attempts to deprogram a victim on their own without proper knowledge and training, they could cause irreversible damage to the victim. This could pose a danger to both the victim and to the person attempting to deprogram them.
Do NOT pry for information. RAMCOA victims have been through unspeakable horrors. While it can be tempting to want to truly understand all of it, any discussions of past trauma should always be on the victim's terms. They will tell you what they are comfortable sharing, and it is not your job to attempt to dictate where that line is.
Recovery Resources
http://ra-info.org
https://endritualabuse.org/full-article-index/
https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1794/1396/Diss_1_4_8_OCR_rev.pdf;sequence=4
https://strengthtoheal.org/understanding-ritual-abuse/
https://www.organisedabuse.com/info