High-profile kidnappings and hostage situations are frequently associated with Stockholm syndrome. Regular individuals may also experience this psychological condition as a result of numerous sorts of trauma, in addition to well-known criminal situations.
In this post, we’ll look more closely at what the Stockholm syndrome is, how it gained its name, the kinds of circumstances that could cause someone to experience it, and treatments available.
What is Stockholm syndrome?
A psychological reaction is called the Stockholm syndrome. When captives or abuse victims form bonds with their captors or abusers, it happens. Over the course of days, weeks, months, or even years of confinement or torture, a psychological link forms.
With this condition, captives or victims of torture could start to feel sorry for their captors. This is the exact reverse of what could be anticipated from the victims under these circumstances, which would be dread, horror, and contempt.
Some captives do, in fact, begin to harbor favorable sentiments toward them over time. They could even start to feel as though they support the same causes and aims. The victim can start feeling unfavorable things towards the police or other authorities. They could be hostile to anyone who tries to save them from the perilous circumstance they’re in.
This paradox does not always occur with hostages or victims, and it is not known why it does so occasionally.
Many psychologists and medical experts view Stockholm syndrome as a coping technique, or a means of assisting victims in overcoming the stress of a horrific scenario. In fact, the syndrome’s history could aid in explaining why it is.
What is the history?
There have probably been instances of the so-called Stockholm syndrome for many years, perhaps even millennia. However, it wasn’t until 1973 that this reaction to coercion or abuse received a name.
After a bank heist in Stockholm, Sweden, two guys took four people hostage for six days at that time. After being freed, the hostages declined to testify against their captors and even started fund-raising for their defense.
After that, psychiatrists and mental health professionals gave the illness that happens when hostages form an emotional or psychological attachment to the individuals holding them captive the name “Stockholm syndrome.”
Despite being well known, the current version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders does not list Stockholm syndrome as a mental disorder. Mental health professionals and other specialists use this guidebook to identify mental health issues.
