Stockholm Syndrome

The Stockholm syndrome has been of the numerous studies that psychologists have always been amazed at their findings.

Stockholm syndrome, is a psychological response wherein a captive begins to identify closely with his or her captors, as well as with their agenda and demands(not resisting).

The name of the syndrome is derived from a bank robbery in Stockholm, Sweden(hence the name). In August1973 four employees of Sveriges Kreditbank were being held hostage in the bank’s vault for six days. During the standoff, a seemingly unexplainable bond developed between the captives and their captors. One of the hostages, during a telephone call with Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palms, stated that she fully trusted her captors but feared that she would die in a police assault on the building as the police was planning to raid the bank and rescue the captives. Very strange right? Here's another example below👇👇

One of the most crucial example of Stockholm syndrome would be that involving kidnapped newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst In 1974,about 10 weeks after being taken hostage by the Symbionese Liberation Army(as they were called),Patricia Hearst helped her kidnappers rob a California bank!! Isn't that crazy?

Still don't believed this is real? Here's another live example below👇

 During the hostage crisis in Iran,(1979–81) the Stockholm syndrome worked its way into the public imagination. The syndrome was seen after the 1985 hijacking of TWA flight 847. Although the passengers went through a tough hostage ordeal that lasted more than two weeks, upon their release some were openly sympathetic to the demands of their kidnappers.

Now let me give a much more fun example of the Stockholm Syndrome that most people can relate to.

Remember this movie called "Lavas De Lapel" translated "Money Heist" in English? During the end of season 2, a hostage who was working for the company that was raided joined the robbers and even hooked up and fell in love with one of the robbers. Even during the robbery, a bond was built and they even made love. The bond was so strong, they even started living together. She had to leave the father of her unborn child for one of the robbers. That there was a show of how strong the Stockholm syndrome can be. Also, all the robbers were given names according to cities all around the world, she was given the name "Stockholm" showing that she exhibited the Stockholm syndrome.

I'll end with this, what do psychologists say about it?

Psychologists who have studied the syndrome believe that the bond is initially created when a captor threatens a captive’s life, deliberates, and then chooses not to kill the captive. The captive’s relief at the removal of the death threat is transposed into feelings of gratitude toward the captor for giving him or her life. As the Stockholm bank robbery incident proves, it takes only a few days for this bond to cement, proving that, early on, the victim’s desire to survive overrides the urge to hate the person who created the situation, which in this sense, is the captor.

The survival instinct is at the heart of the Stockholm syndrome. Victims live in enforced dependence and interpret rare or small acts of kindness in the midst of horrible conditions as good treatment. They often become hypervigilant to the needs and demands of their captors, making psychological links between the captors’ happiness and their own. Indeed, the syndrome is marked not only by a positive bond between captive and captor but also by a negative attitude on behalf of the captive toward authorities who threaten the captor-captive relationship. The negative attitude is especially powerful when the hostage is of no use to the captors except as leverage against a third party, as has often been the case with political hostages.

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By the 21st century, psychologists had expanded their understanding of the Stockholm syndrome from hostages to other groups, including victims of domestic violence, cult members, prisoners of war, procured prostitutes, and abused children. The American Psychiatric Association does not include Stockholm syndrome in its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) which means that STOCKHOLM SYNDROME isn't a mental disorder at all.

Have you ever been a hostage or do you know anyone who has?

If yes, then please, do share your opinion or your experience.