Gustave Le Bon said the masses masses have never thirsted after the truth. They turn aside from evidence that is not to their taste, preferring to deify error, if error seduce them.

Whoever can supplies them with illusions is easily their master; whoever attempts to destroy their illusions is always their victim.

Diseases of the body can spread through a population and reach epidemic proportions, but so too can the diseases of the mind. Of this latter variety, mass psychosis is the most dangerous.

During mass psychosis madness becomes the norm in a society and delusionary beliefs spread like a contagion. As delusion can take many forms and as madness can manifest in many countless ways, the specific manners with which madness unfolds will differ based on historical...

... and cultural context of the infected society. In the past, mass psychosis has led to witch-hunt and genocide but in modern era, it is the mass psychosis of totalitarian that is the biggest threat.

Totalitarianism is the modern phenomenon of total centralised state power coupled with obliteration of individual human rights: in the totalised state, there are those in power, there are the objectified masses, the victims, says Arthur Versluis.

In a totalitarian society, the population is divided into two groups, the rulers and the ruled and both groups undergo a pathological transformation.

The rulers are elevated into a godlike status, which is diametrically opposed to our nature as imperfect human beings who are easily corrupted by power.

The masses, on the other hand, are transformed into dependent subject of this pathological ruler and take all their orders with the obedience of a child. The transformation of humanity that totalitarian brings only turn sound minds to sick minds.

There is in fact much that is comparable between the strange reactions of citizens of totalitarianism and their culture as a whole on the one hand and the reactions of the sick schizophrenic on the other, according to Joost Meerloo.

The social transformation that occurs under totalitarianism is built upon and sustained by delusions. Only deluded men and women submit to orders in a childlike manner and hand over complete control of their lives to the politicians and bureaucrats.

Only a deluded ruling class would think they posses the knowledge, wisdom and acumen to completely control society in a top-down manner.

Only people under the spell of illusion would believe a society composed of power-hungry rulers on one hand and a psychologically regressed population on the other will lead to anything other than mass suffering and social ruin.

The mass psychosis of totalitarianism is always triggered by a society's rulling class. The individuals that make up this class are the politicians, bureaucrats and crony capitalists, who are prone to delusion that augment their powers.

No delusion is more attractive to the power-hungry than the delusion that they can and should control and dominate a society.

When a ruling elite becomes possessed by a political ideology of this sort, be it communism, fascism or technocracy, the next step is to induce the population into accepting their rules by infecting them with the mass psychosis of totalitarianism.

This psychosis has been induced many times throughout history. Meerloo also described it as simply a question of reorganising and manipulating collective feelings in the proper way.

The general method through which the ruling elite can accomplish this end is called menticide, which literally means the killing of the mind. Meerloo further explained menticide is an old crime against human mind and spirit but systematised anew.

It's an organised system of psychological intervention and judicial perversion through which a rulling class can imprint their thoughts upon the minds of those the plan to destroy. Priming the mind for the crime of menticide begins with the sowing of fear.

When an individual is flooded with negative emotions such as fear and anxiety, he or she is very susceptible to the delusion of madness. Threats real, fabricated or imagined can be used to sow fear but a particularly effective technique is to use a wave of terror.

Under this technique, a period of fear is staggered with a periods of calm. Each of this period of calm is followed by a manufacturing of even a more intense form of fear. The process goes on and on.

Each wave of terrorising creates its effects more easily after a breathing spell than one that preceded it because people are still disturbed by their previous experience.

Morality becomes lower and lower, and the psychological effects of each new propaganda campaign becomes stronger; it reaches a public already softened up, says Meerloo.

While fear primes a population for menticide, the use of propaganda to spread misinformation and to promote confusion helps break down the minds of the masses.

Government officials can use contradictory reports, nonsensical information and even blatant lies because the more they confuse the less capable will a population is able to cope with crisis.

Confusion heightens the susceptibility of the descent into the delusion of totalitarianism. Logic can be met with logic, while illogic cannot. It confuses those who think straight. The big lie and monotonously repeated nonsense have more emotional appeal than logic and reason.

While the people are still searching for a reasonable counter-arguement, the totalitarian can assault them with another. Never before in history have effective means existed to manipulate a society into the psychosis of totalitarianism.

Smartphones, social media, television and the internet, all in conjuction with algorithms that quickly censor the flow of unwanted information allow those in power to easily assault the minds of the masses.

The addictive nature of this technology makes many people voluntarily subject themselves to the rulling elite propaganda with a remarkable frequency. Isolation of victims is an important aspect of totalitarian psychosis.

Human beings are detached from social interactions with friends and family and this makes and individual more susceptible to delusion for several reasons.

Firstly, they lose contact with corrective force of positive example because not everyone is tripped by the machinations of the ruling elite and anyone who see through the propaganda can help free others from menticide.

However, if Isolation is enforced, the power of this positive influence greatly diminishes. One of the reasons isolation increases the chances of menticide is because like many other species, human beings are easily conditioned into a new pattern of thoughts when isolated.

Alone, confused and battered by waves of terror, a population under menticide descends into a vulnerable state the never-ending stream of propaganda turns minds once capable rational thoughts into playhouses of irrational forces and with chaos ruling around and within them.

The masses crave a return to a normal world. The would be totalitarian can now take a more decisive step. The can offer a way out in a world that seem to be moving rapidly to the other direction but all of this comes with a price.

The masses must give up their freedom and cede all aspects of their lives to the rulling elite. They must relinquish their capacity to be self reliant individuals, in other words descend into the delusion of totalitarian psychosis.

By enforcing strict conformity and requiring blind obedience, totalitarianism rids the world of spontaneity that produces may of life's joys and the creativity that drives society forward.

The total control of this form of rule, no matter what name it is branded, be it rule by scientists, doctors, bureaucrats or a dictator brings stagnation, destruction and deaths on a mass scale.

The most important question facing the whole is, how can totalitarianism be prevented or can a society that has been induced has its effects reduced? There are steps that can be taken but this task necessitates many different approaches from many different people.

As the menticidal attack is multipronged, so too must be the counterattack. According to Carl Jung, for those of who want to return sanity to an insane world, the first step is to bring order to our own minds to and to live in a way that provides inspiration for others to follow.

Information that counters the totalitarian narrative should be disseminated as far and wide as possible because the truth is more powerful than that falsity peddled by totalitarian rulers.

That's why their success is part contingent on their ability to censor the free flow particular type of information. Another tactic is to use humour and deligitimise the rulling elite.

Dissidents is Communist Checzlovakia created parallel structures within the then totalitarian society thereby detaching them from the system. Above all, what is required to prevent a full descent into the madness of totalitarianism is active participation of everybody.