Diane Marie Mitchell

About the Author – Diane Marie Mitchell Born in Chicago, Illinois, Diane Marie Mitchell was raised in her family’s two-flat brick apartment building on the Northwest side, becoming the fourth generation of her family to live there. While attending college in downstate Illinois, she joined a campus ministry that introduced her to discipleship methods that controlled every aspect of her life. She did not understand at that time she had joined a Christian cult and would be in denial for many decades. During those membership years, Diane married, adopted a baby from mainland China, and raised her daughter near the beach in Southern California. While in California, Diane began her career in Information Technology and has been programming financial reports ever since. Reading the diaries she had kept for many decades prompted her decision to walk away from her church. The worn-out pages took her back to her teenage years when she first joined the group. Reading with fresh eyes helped her identify the behavior and thought patterns common to cults or high-control churches. Besides reading her diaries, Diane spent hundreds of hours researching Christian cults. She read all the articles and books written about her church that she would not dare look at while still committed to her organization because the material was considered “spiritual pornography” to members. All this information helped her ascertain she was in a cult. With all this knowledge, Diane wrote Dying to Belong to help others break free from churches that control and abuse. Diane and her daughter live in Denver and enjoy the mountain views and outdoor activities.