Today I am going to talk about an psychological phenomenon where the victim bonds with their abuser or captor…
Many of you might think …
WHAT ?
Yes!
This is known as Stockholm syndrome. Where a psychological connection develops between the victim and the perpetrator. This is a psychological response where victim sympathize with their captor.
This syndrome was named Stockholm syndrome after an hostage situation in Stockholm, where two men kept four people hostage for six days and after their release they refused to testify against them and instead raised money for the trial of the two captors.
This association is also seen among in victims of sexual, emotional abuse and domestic violence, human trafficking, they develop sympathy and emotional attachment to their abuser. As they see any slight act of kindness , normalcy as positive attribute. Also they believe they have to rely on their abuser for their survival and hence they need to protect them.
Though this is not a Psychological disorder it needs attention as it might put victim in extreme danger without realising it. Many psychologist and medical professionals beleive this is an coping mechanism an psychological response to survive in difficult situation and handle the trauma associated with it.
If you remember Amitabh Bachchan and sridevi movie ‘Akhri Rasta’, there sridevi when kidnapped shows sympathy for Amitabh Bachchan as kidnapper…Another Bollywood movie reflecting this syndrome is Highway featuring Alia Bhatt and Randeep Huda…
In Stockholm syndrome victim develops positive feeling for their abuser to an extend that they refuse to seek help or co-operate with the authorities.
They develop fear of freedom and have negative feelings against anyone who tried to help them get away from their captor or abuser.
The victim starts to see humanity and kindness in the behaviour of the captor and start believing that they hold same values as them.
Victims showing Stockholm syndrome might experience following symptoms:
Recovering from Stockholm syndrome needs psychological intervention along with counselling. The focus of psychological counseling is to help them overcome Survival mode and build alternative coping mechanism.
Therapy also helps in overcoming PTSD , emotional attachment to abuser and anxiety.
Long-term therapy and counseling can help you build positive emotions which brings cognitive shift in your thought process and makes you believe that what happened was not your fault it was your survival instinct to protect your self in a very traumatic and difficult situation.
