I’m not a head doctor, so take this just as an observation during the years of my involvement.

Occultism seemed to attract a lot of people who were ill, or at risk. It seemed to attract a lot of people that felt helpless or like they weren’t in control of their life. These people commonly were looking for a leg up. Often that leg up was some sort of understanding of the bigger picture, or a toolset that would allow them to influence the world in ways favorable to them. My deduction is that, aside from those I’d refer to as “the scholars,” occultism more often than not attracted the vulnerable in one sense or another.

It also seemed to attract the damaged, who wanted to intentionally share their damage. But I felt like they were rare, and they also fizzled out very quickly.