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What is Stockholm syndrome and why is it called that. Stockholm Syndrome (Hostage Survival Syndrome, Common Sense Syndrome, Hostage Identification Syndrome, Stockholm Factor) Psychology Stockholm Syndrome

Not all families, even more than prosperous in appearance, are happy. There are situations when there are cases of violence, physical and moral harm in the family. At the same time, the victim not only does not try to escape, but also protects his tormentor. Stockholm Syndrome in the family is a psychological consequence of the violence that has taken place over a period of time. To get rid of the Stockholm syndrome requires treatment, the help of professionals.

The history of the term

The name of the syndrome was coined by Niels Biggeroth, a forensic scientist who analyzed the hostage situation in 1973. The victims of the terrorists were 3 women and a man, who were kept in a bank by two men for 5 days. And the reason for the study and analysis of the situation was the behavior of the hostages during the operation of their release and after that.

Thus, the victims sided with their captors upon release. Moreover, even at the trial they asked for amnesty for the offenders. After the invaders went to serve a real prison sentence, two girls (former hostages) became engaged to them.

Development of the syndrome

For the development of the syndrome, it is necessary that several factors combine in one situation:

The victim must be isolated from the whole world and from communication with anyone other than the aggressor;
- the victim does not represent the ways of salvation;
- the victim is afraid of the offender, is depressed.

At the same time, the victim after a while begins to feel a sense of affection for his tormentor. The slightest kindness of the offender is perceived as the highest good, the victim begins to see positive traits in the tormentor. Soon the victim (victim) begins to look at everything around her like the offender, her own needs become not paramount. Such a psychological reaction allows you to survive even in the most extreme stressful situations.

Stockholm syndrome at home, in the family

Violence that occurs in the family causes significant psychological harm to both the injured party and those who become witnesses. Regularly repeated acts of violence suppress the will, cause depression, and can lead to suicide.

The most common example of familial Stockholm syndrome is a wife who does not leave her husband who beats her. Unlike stressful situations in society (for example, hostage-taking), when the victim adapts psychologically to the invaders in order to survive, not everything is clear in everyday life.

Quite often, women who are regularly beaten, mentally tortured and intimidated by their husbands, not only do not file for divorce, but even justify the tormentor. They tolerate this attitude for reasons that seem important to the victims:

Due to financial difficulties;
- for the sake of children;
- out of shame and so on.

In fact, all these excuses are the operation of a syndrome that requires specialized treatment.

By the way, those women who suffer fanaticism over themselves for the sake of children do them a disservice. Children, seeing such a model of the family, are already at a subconscious level ready to go into adulthood with the mindset of a victim. In addition, witnesses of violence experience the same thing as the victim - depression, depression that does not go away, and so on, which can eventually lead to a suicide attempt and death.

Such relationships leading to the development of Stockholm syndrome can also occur between children and their parents or one of the parents. Most often, this leads to the realization of the fact that a child is loved much less than other children. Because of this, the child has a strong belief that he is somehow wrong, a second-class person. The behavior of a child victim is based on the axiom: the less you talk to the offender, the more likely you are to avoid aggression. This situation is complicated by the fact that the child is dependent on the tyrant from the very beginning and it is impossible to turn the tide of events.

Treatment of Stockholm Syndrome

Only a professional, experienced psychiatrist can help people with Stockholm syndrome to get rid of painful addiction. As a rule, victims of domestic violence are very difficult to convince of the need for assistance. The victims are extremely insecure personalities, they tend to justify the actions of the one who torments them. The victims do not want to destroy the world that has been created, so it is incredibly difficult to correct the situation.

To help a victim of violence, you need a person who will provide support, both moral and material. This is necessary so that the injured party feels at least the slightest confidence in himself and that the situation is not hopeless.

Of course, it is important that the victims themselves realize the incorrectness of the existing relations and the situation as a whole. In this case, abandoning the role of the victim is real. However, without the help of good specialists in the field of psychology and psychiatry, the process of getting rid of addiction can take many years. Having discovered the Stockholm syndrome in the family, its treatment should be started as early as possible, until the psychological dependence has become incurable.

Anyone can get into a situation that provokes the development of Stockholm syndrome. But getting rid of this type of addiction is not easy. If you or someone from your environment is faced with such a disaster, you need to urgently take action - contact the doctors and special services. In this case, no one will be able to tell you more about the work of psychologists, since this is an individual job, and besides, it is highly paid, and therefore no one will give out secrets.

This term appeared after the events taking place in the capital of Sweden - Stockholm, on August 23, 1973. A prisoner who escaped from custody wounded a policeman and seized the bank building along with the employees inside. They were a man and three women. After, the offender demanded that his cellmate be brought, and the request was fulfilled. In an attempt to free the hostages, one of the group of policemen dug a hole in the roof and filmed the face of one of the attackers with a camera - shots followed in response. The police used a gas attack, and freed the hostages safe and sound, what was the surprise of those around them from the subsequent reaction of the released. Instead of gratitude, they said that they were more afraid of the actions of the police than the criminals, because all five days of captivity they were not offended. During the trials, one of the attackers managed to convince the public that he acted for the good of the enslaved and he was acquitted. The second defendant received a term of 10 years, but throughout his imprisonment he regularly received letters of support.

Stockholm syndrome, what is it and what does it consist of?

This term is commonly used to call the state when the victim takes the position of the offender and tries to justify his actions, for himself and others. A kind of defensive reaction of the psyche, when a person, being in danger, does not want to accept the seriousness of the situation, explains criminal actions in relation to himself as an emergency. Stockholm syndrome is a phenomenon that occurs quite rarely, only in 8% of cases, but because of its uniqueness, it has become very interesting to study.

Basically, this happens as a result of terrorist hostage-taking, including from political convictions, kidnapping for the purpose of ransom and sale into slavery, in conditions of military captivity. This syndrome occurs after three or four or more days in contact with the kidnapper. Moreover, the syndrome can be massive, spread to many captured overnight.

Household stockholm syndrome

Cases of Stockholm syndrome in the family appear very often when one of the partners takes the position of the victim and endures the moral or physical torture of the other. More often, women suffer from the syndrome, justifying beatings and humiliation by the fact that they provoke the offender themselves.

The syndrome affects people who have suffered psychological trauma from childhood - they received little and everything that the child did not do, succumbed to crushing criticism, forming a sense of inferiority. Also, the transferred sexual violence entails a strong conviction that there is no chance for a normal relationship, it is better to be content with what you have. Sufferers, in order to avoid aggression, try to take the side of the attacker, protect him in the eyes of others, or simply hide what is happening in the family. The victim will refuse outside help, denying their situation, as the situation can last for years, and it has become a habitual way of survival - to adapt to a life of violence. Often, realizing the seriousness of the situation, and realizing that he is a victim, a person does not dare to break the vicious circle, fearing

Stockholm syndrome is a psychological phenomenon in which the victim begins to feel sympathy and even regret for his aggressor, tyrant, rapist. Until recently, this syndrome was considered only in the context of the emergence of positive emotions in hostages towards their captors. But today this term is also applicable to everyday situations, relations between a man and a woman. Most often, the role of the victim in a relationship is occupied by a woman, although not in 100% of cases.

It occurs in 8 cases out of 100. At the heart of the Stockholm syndrome is the principle of dependent relationships. The essence of the syndrome is that the victim begins to feel sympathy, feels emotional and psychological dependence, protects his tyrant in the eyes of other people.

There are cases when hostages escaped with their tyrants or covered them from bullets, helping to avoid punishment. With everyday Stockholm syndrome, the victim harbors a tyrant, looks for the cause of it in himself, finds excuses for the aggressor.

Simply put, it is a change of hatred and fear to sympathy, understanding, sympathy and love. The modern understanding of the phenomenon of Stockholm syndrome is much broader and more complex:

Today, information about this syndrome is so accessible that terrorists and other criminals use the features of the syndrome for their own purposes. Therefore, it has become more difficult for psychologists and the police and other services to work. It is important to determine not only the true motives of the perpetrator, but also the true motives of the victim.
The Stockholm Syndrome phenomenon can also be seen in business relationships. When employees realize that they live under eternal overload and inadequate demands from their superiors, but over time they begin to take it for granted. After all, sometimes employees receive bonuses. The self-esteem of the employee is reduced, the desire to resist, if it arises, is immediately cut off. There is no mention of layoffs. And the fear of being fired or disappointing the authorities becomes the leading one.
The term is used not only in relation to family relations or classically in relation to the relationship of the invader and the hostage, but also in relation to parent-child relationships. Moreover, the role of a tyrant (ruler) can belong to both parents and children.
Another modern use of the term is the relationship of the buyer and goods, or shopaholism. The buyer by hook or by crook (useful later, promotion, discount, bonus) justifies his purchases. And although the shopaholic himself knows that these promotions are not the last, in the depths of his soul he thinks “what if it’s the last for this product.”

History of the Discovery of Stockholm Syndrome

On August 23, 1973, on the central square of Stockholm, armed criminals (32-year-old Jan-Erik Olsson and 26-year-old Clark Olofsson) seized a bank and 4 hostages (31-year-old Brigitta Lundberg, 26-year-old Christina Enmark, 21-year-old Elisabeth Oldgren, 26 -year-old Sven Sefstrom). Outwardly, all the victims are prosperous, beautiful, successful and self-confident.

During the captivity, while the robbers asked for a ransom, the victims endured 2 days of a complete hunger strike, threats of murder, torture (to stand with a noose around their neck, at the slightest change in position, it would stretch and choke). But soon the rapprochement of criminals and hostages began to be noted. Up to the point that one of the victims was able to transfer information to the police, but then she herself admitted this to the robbers. And on the fourth day, she asked the police to give her and the criminals the opportunity to leave.

Sven claimed after his release that the robbers were good people. On the sixth day during the liberation, the hostages protected the robbers and held hands with them. Later, two hostages admitted that they voluntarily copulated with the robbers, and a little later they began to visit those in prison and eventually became engaged to them.

Causes of the syndrome

In 80% of cases, the formation of the syndrome is caused by a certain type of thinking. Most victims are psychologically programmed to follow this role.

The main features of the victim's thinking include the following provisions:

Seeing the world in pessimistic terms, feeling like a magnet for trouble.
Feeling that the victim does not deserve more.
There is a setting for humility and patience. It is especially characteristic for women if they were taught in childhood the need to obey a man. In families where the father was a tyrant or just a leading rude person, and the mother was silent, weak.

Victims more often come out of overly demanding ones, where the child tried to earn the love of his parents. In addition, for noticed attempts to please the child received even more criticism. Or in families where the child felt unwanted and was deprived of attention.

More often, the syndrome develops in people with a mobile and unstable psyche ().

Defense mechanism of the psyche

The second reason for the formation of the Stockholm syndrome is the activation of a defense mechanism in a woman who has been subjected to gender-based violence. The bottom line is that the tyrant's outbursts of aggression will be less frequent and smaller or directed at another object if the victim does not show contradictions. Gender-based violence is characterized by two stages: humiliation and remorse. Due to emotional weakness, the victim does not stand up and forgives his aggressor.

The influence of the protective mechanism was also considered in the first case on the square in Stockholm. The British psychologist Anna Freud called it then identification with the aggressor. This is an irrational reaction, which is included in the conditions of survival, inefficiency and hopelessness of rational reactions.

The victim unconsciously identifies with the aggressor and hopes that he will not harm another person like him. In order to make such identification possible, perception rearranges its work. As a result of perestroika, the aggressor is perceived as a nice person, and not as a tyrant. Indeed, otherwise it would be impossible to identify oneself with the criminal. The forced long stay in one space, communication also contributes.

Influence of stereotypes

The third option for the development of Stockholm syndrome is the influence of stereotypes. Actual for domestic syndrome. Basically, the idea that a single woman cannot be happy and successful has an effect. Or that a woman should live with one man all her life (especially if the man is the first in terms of sex). Women brought up by stereotypes can endure physical and mental abuse for years and "bear their cross."

It is worth noting that two or all of the factors described can affect the development of the syndrome at once. This happens quite often. And this is not surprising, since in the end the problem of the syndrome grows from childhood. And the family is responsible for development, and for, and for the formation of beliefs and culture.

Favorable conditions for the development of the syndrome

Stockholm syndrome does not always develop, but only under certain conditions:

prolonged forced stay of the victim and the aggressor in the same space;
humane and loyal attitude of the aggressor to the victim;
a real threat to the life of the victim, which the aggressor demonstrates;
awareness by the victim of the absence of an alternative, the reality of only one outcome dictated by the aggressor.

The syndrome itself under such conditions is formed in 4 stages:

Establishing close relationships due to forced joint isolation.
The willingness of the victim to do whatever the aggressor says in order to save his own life.
Rapprochement through communication, penetration into the inner world of the aggressor, understanding of his motives for behavior.
The development of emotional dependence on the aggressor due to his loyal attitude and forced communication, a sense of gratitude for the saved life, a desire to help.

How to get rid of the syndrome

The victim herself interferes with her own release. No one can help her until she herself realizes the inadequacy of her own behavior.

It is almost impossible to cope with such a problem as Stockholm syndrome on your own. It is recommended to consult a psychologist. It will help to look deep into the soul and understand the true causes of sacrifice. Most often, the victim is in the role of a “whipping girl / boy” in life. But where such a life position was formed is a more complex and private question.

Correction of domestic Stockholm syndrome is more difficult than others. After all, the only solution is to realize the irrationality of the victim's behavior, to see the unreality of one's own hopes and illusions, to get away from the aggressor. The victim will believe to the last that the situation (read: the aggressor) can be changed.

The buying syndrome is the easiest to correct. It is enough to see how many of the purchased items have never been used within a month. Or calculate what the buyer has deprived himself of, what he has sacrificed.

Syndrome in a business relationship does not necessarily require a job change. After all, the victim will again find the same tyrant-boss. It is necessary to increase the self-esteem of the victim, set life priorities (work should not take all the time), find and appreciate your individuality (beliefs, interests,).

Working with any kind of Stockholm syndrome involves working with a person, his self-concept, increasing self-esteem.

Based on the materials of the book by L.G. Pochebut
"Social psychology of the crowd" (St. Petersburg, 2004).

stockholm syndrome- a psychological state that occurs during hostage-taking, when the hostages begin to sympathize with the hostage-takers or even identify themselves with them.

The authorship of the term "Stockholm syndrome" is attributed to the criminologist Nils Bejerot, who introduced it during the analysis of the situation that arose in Stockholm during the hostage-taking in August 1973.

With a long interaction between hostages and terrorists, a reorientation occurs in the behavior and psyche of the hostages. The so-called "Stockholm Syndrome". It was first discovered in the capital of Sweden. The situation developed as follows. Two repeat offenders in a financial bank took four hostages - a man and three women. For six days, the bandits threatened their lives, but from time to time gave some concessions. As a result, the victims of the capture began to resist government attempts to free them and protect their captors. Subsequently, during the trial of the bandits, the released hostages acted as defenders of the bandits, and two women became engaged to the former kidnappers. Such a strange attachment of victims to terrorists arises when the hostages are not physically harmed, but they are subjected to moral pressure. For example, during the seizure of the hospital in Budyonnovsk by Basayev's detachment, the hostages, who had lain on the floor of the hospital for several days, asked the authorities not to start an assault, but to fulfill the demands of the terrorists.

"Stockholm Syndrome" is exacerbated if a group of hostages is divided into separate subgroups, unable to communicate with each other.

The peculiar situation that provokes the "Stockholm Syndrome" is repeatedly described in the literature, reflected in feature films. For the first time, the psychological attachment of a hostage to his watchman is presented in the film based on Lavrenev's story "Forty-First". Then, in the French film The Runaways, starring famous actors Gerard Depardieu and Pierre Richard, a tender friendship is shown between a failed terrorist (Richard's hero) and a former bandit who became his hostage (Depardieu's hero). In the famous American film "Die Hard" with the participation of Bruce Willis, the situation of the consequences of the "Stockholm Syndrome" is played out more dramatically. One of the hostages showed solidarity with the terrorists, betrayed his comrades, betrayed the wife of a police officer (the hero of Willis). After that, he was shot in cold blood by terrorists. This example shows us how risky it is for hostages to communicate with terrorists.

The psychological mechanism of the Stockholm syndrome is that in conditions of complete physical dependence on an aggressive terrorist, a person begins to interpret any of his actions in his favor. There are cases when the victim and the invaders were together for months, waiting for the demands of the terrorist to be fulfilled. If no harm is done to the victim, then in the process of adapting to the situation, some people, sensing the potential inability of the invaders to harm them, begin to provoke them. However, any statements about the weakness of terrorists, threats of revenge, imminent exposure and prosecution can be very dangerous and lead to irreparable consequences.

The "Stockholm Syndrome" manifested itself most clearly during the capture of the Japanese embassy in Peru by terrorists. At the residence of the Japanese ambassador in Lima, the capital of Peru, on December 17, 1998, a magnificent reception was held on the occasion of the birthday of Emperor Akohito of Japan. The terrorists, who appeared as waiters with trays in their hands, seized the ambassador's residence along with 500 guests. The terrorists were members of the Peruvian extremist group Tupac Amar Revolutionary Movement. It was the largest ever capture of such a large number of high-ranking hostages from around the world, whose immunity is established by international acts. The terrorists demanded that the authorities release about 500 of their supporters who are in prison.

Immediately after the capture of Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, they began to accuse him of not providing reliable protection for the embassy. Western leaders, whose citizens were among the hostages, put pressure on him and demanded that the safety of the hostages be a priority in their release. But there was no talk of any assault on the embassy, or any other forceful measures to free the hostages. A day after the capture of the residence, the terrorists released 10 prisoners - the ambassadors of Germany, Canada, Greece, the cultural adviser to the French embassy. The terrorists agreed with the diplomats that they would become mediators in the negotiations between them and President A. Fujimori. The president could either join the negotiations with the terrorists, which they insisted on, or try to free the hostages by force. But the assault on the embassy did not guarantee the survival of the hostages.

Two weeks later, the terrorists released 220 hostages, reducing the number of their captives to make them easier to control. The released hostages puzzled the Peruvian authorities with their behavior. They made unexpected statements about the righteousness and justice of the terrorists' struggle. Being in captivity for a long time, they began to feel both sympathy for their captors, and hatred and fear towards those who would try to free them by force.

According to the Peruvian authorities, the leader of the terrorists, Nestor Cartolini, a former textile worker, was an exceptionally cruel and cold-blooded fanatic. A whole series of kidnappings of major Peruvian entrepreneurs was associated with the name of Kartolini, from whom the revolutionary demanded money and other valuables under threat of death. However, he made a completely different impression on the hostages. A prominent Canadian businessman, Kieran Matkelf, said after his release that Nestor Cartolini is a polite and educated man who is dedicated to his work.

The hostage-taking lasted four months. The situation of the hostages began to deteriorate. Some hostages decided to break free on their own. And only A. Fujimori, for whom it was absolutely unacceptable to follow the terrorists' lead and release their comrades-in-arms from prison, seemed to be inactive. In the country, his popularity fell extremely low. The president's inaction outraged the world community. No one knew that a group of specially trained people were digging a tunnel under the embassy. On the advice of the previously released hostages, the assault on the embassy began during a football match, which at a certain time of the day was fought between terrorists. The capture group sat in a secret tunnel for about two days. When the assault began, the entire operation took 16 minutes. All terrorists during the assault were destroyed, all the hostages were released.

hostage syndrome- this is a serious shock state of changing the consciousness of a person. The hostages are more afraid of the storming of the building and the violent operation of the authorities to free them than the threats of terrorists. They know that the terrorists are well aware that as long as the hostages are alive, the terrorists themselves are also alive. The hostages take a passive position, they have no means of self-defense either against terrorists or in the event of an assault. The only protection for them can be a tolerant attitude on the part of terrorists. The anti-terrorist action to free the hostages poses a more serious danger to them than even to terrorists who have the opportunity to defend themselves. Therefore, the hostages are psychologically attached to the terrorists. In order to eliminate the cognitive dissonance between the knowledge that terrorists are dangerous criminals whose actions threaten them with death, and the knowledge that the only way to save their lives is to show solidarity with the terrorists, the hostages choose situational causal attribution. They justify their attachment to terrorists by the desire to save their lives in this extreme situation.

This behavior of the hostages during the anti-terrorist operation is very dangerous. There are cases when a hostage, seeing a commando, shouted to the terrorists about his appearance and even shielded the terrorist with his body. The terrorist even hid among the hostages, no one exposed him. The perpetrator does not reciprocate the feelings of the hostages at all. They are not living people for him, but a means to an end. The hostages, on the contrary, hope for his sympathy. As a rule, "Stockholm Syndrome" passes after the terrorists kill the first hostage.

Stockholm syndrome is a psychological condition that occurs during hostage-taking, when the hostages begin to sympathize with the hostage-takers or even identify with them.

With a long interaction between hostages and terrorists, a reorientation occurs in the behavior and psyche of the hostages. The so-called "Stockholm Syndrome" appears.

It was first discovered in the capital of Sweden. The situation developed as follows. Two repeat offenders in a financial bank took four hostages - a man and three women. For six days, the bandits threatened their lives, but from time to time gave some concessions. As a result, the victims of the capture began to resist government attempts to free them and protect their captors.

Subsequently, during the trial of the bandits, the released hostages acted as defenders of the bandits, and two women became engaged to the former kidnappers. Such a strange attachment of victims to terrorists arises when the hostages are not physically harmed, but they are subjected to moral pressure.

"Stockholm Syndrome" is exacerbated if a group of hostages is divided into separate subgroups, unable to communicate with each other.

The peculiar situation that provokes the "Stockholm Syndrome" is repeatedly described in the literature, reflected in feature films.

For the first time, the psychological attachment of a hostage to his watchman is presented in the film based on Lavrenev's story "Forty-First". Then, in the French film The Runaways, starring famous actors Gerard Depardieu and Pierre Richard, a tender friendship is shown between a failed terrorist (Richard's hero) and a former bandit who became his hostage (Depardieu's hero). In the famous American film "Die Hard" with the participation of Bruce Willis, the situation of the consequences of the "Stockholm Syndrome" is played out more dramatically. One of the hostages showed solidarity with the terrorists, betrayed his comrades, betrayed the wife of a police officer (the hero of Willis). After that, he was shot in cold blood by terrorists.

Two weeks later, the terrorists released 220 hostages, reducing the number of their captives to make them easier to control.

The released hostages puzzled the Peruvian authorities with their behavior. They made unexpected statements about the righteousness and justice of the terrorists' struggle. Being in captivity for a long time, they began to feel both sympathy for their captors, and hatred and fear towards those who would try to free them by force.

However, he made a completely different impression on the hostages. A prominent Canadian businessman, Kieran Matkelf, said after his release that Nestor Cartolini is a polite and educated person, dedicated to his work.

The hostage-taking lasted four months. The situation of the hostages began to deteriorate. Some hostages decided to break free on their own. And only A. Fujimori, for whom it was absolutely unacceptable to follow the terrorists' lead and release their comrades-in-arms from prison, seemed to be inactive. In the country, his popularity fell extremely low. The president's inaction outraged the world community. No one knew that a group of specially trained people were digging a tunnel under the embassy. On the advice of the previously released hostages, the assault on the embassy began during a football match, which at a certain time of the day was fought between terrorists. The capture group sat in a secret tunnel for about two days. When the assault began, the entire operation took 16 minutes. All the terrorists during the assault were destroyed, all the hostages were released.

Hostage Syndrome is a serious shock state of altered human consciousness. The hostages are more afraid of the storming of the building and the violent operation of the authorities to free them than the threats of terrorists. They know that the terrorists are well aware that as long as the hostages are alive, the terrorists themselves are also alive. The hostages take a passive position, they have no means of self-defense either against terrorists or in the event of an assault. The only protection for them can be a tolerant attitude on the part of terrorists.

The anti-terrorist action to free the hostages poses a more serious danger to them than even to terrorists who have the opportunity to defend themselves. Therefore, the hostages are psychologically attached to the terrorists. In order to eliminate the cognitive dissonance between the knowledge that terrorists are dangerous criminals whose actions threaten them with death and the knowledge that the only way to save one's life is to show solidarity with the terrorists, the hostages choose a situational causal attribution. They justify their attachment to terrorists by the desire to save their lives in this extreme situation.

The perpetrator does not reciprocate the feelings of the hostages at all. They are not living people for him, but a means to an end. The hostages, on the contrary, hope for his sympathy. As a rule, "Stockholm Syndrome" passes after the terrorists kill the first hostage.

Symptoms of Stockholm Syndrome

The victims try to identify themselves with the aggressors. In principle, at first this process is a kind of immunity, a defensive reaction, which is most often based on a self-inspired thought that the bandit will not be able to harm the hostage if he starts supporting him and helping him. The victim purposefully yearns for the leniency and patronage of the perpetrator.

The injured person in most cases understands that the measures that are taken to save him, in the end, can be dangerous for himself. Attempts to free the hostage may not end according to plan, something may go wrong and the prisoner's life will be in danger. Therefore, the victim often chooses, in her opinion, a safer path - to take the side of the aggressor.

A long stay as a prisoner can lead to the fact that the offender appears to the victim no longer as a person who has violated the law, but as an ordinary person, with his own problems, dreams and aspirations.

This situation is especially clearly expressed in the political and ideological aspect, when there is injustice on the part of the authorities or the surrounding people. As a result, the victim can gain confidence that the point of view of the invader is certainly correct and logical.

The captured face mentally moves away from reality - thoughts arise that everything that is happening is a dream, which will soon end happily.

Household stockholm syndrome

The psychopathological picture, often also called the "hostage syndrome", can often be found in everyday situations. All too often there are cases in which women who have experienced violence and aggression subsequently experience attachment to their rapist.

Unfortunately, such a picture is not uncommon in family relationships. If in a family union the wife experiences aggression and humiliation from her own spouse, then with the Stockholm syndrome she experiences exactly the same abnormal feeling towards him. A similar situation can develop between parents and children.

Stockholm syndrome in the family primarily affects people who initially belong to the psychological type of "suffering victim". Such people were "unloved" in childhood, they experienced envy of the surrounding children, loved by their parents.

Often they have a complex of "second-rate", unworthiness.

In many cases, the motive for their behavior is the following rule: if you argue less with your tormentor, then his anger will manifest itself less often.

A person suffering from bullying takes what is happening for granted, he continues to forgive his offender, and also defends and even justifies him before others and before himself.

One of the varieties of everyday “hostage syndrome” is post-traumatic Stockholm syndrome, the essence of which is the appearance of psychological dependence and attachment of the victim, to whom physical violence was used. A classic example is the restructuring of the psyche of a person who has experienced rape: in some cases, the very fact of humiliation with the use of force is taken for granted as a punishment for something. At the same time, there is a need to justify the rapist and try to understand his behavior. Sometimes there were situations when the victim was looking for a meeting with his offender and expressed his understanding or even sympathy to him.

Social Stockholm Syndrome

As a rule, a person who sacrifices himself to an aggressor cohabitant plans for himself certain survival strategies that help him physically and mentally survive, being side by side with the torturer every day.

Once realized, the mechanisms of salvation over time remake the human personality and turn into the only way of mutual coexistence.

The emotional, behavioral and intellectual components are distorted, which helps to survive in conditions of endless terror.

Experts managed to identify the basic principles of such survival.

The person tries to focus on positive emotions (“if he doesn’t yell at me, then it gives me hope”).

There is a complete denial of negative emotions (“I don’t think about it, I don’t have time”).

Own opinion absolutely repeats the opinion of the aggressor, that is, completely disappears.

A person tries to take all the blame on himself (“I bring it up and provoke him, this is my fault”).

The person becomes secretive and does not discuss his life with anyone.

The victim learns to study the mood, habits, behavior of the aggressor, literally "dissolves" in it.

A person begins to deceive himself and at the same time believe in it: a false admiration for the aggressor appears, a simulation of respect and love, pleasure from sexual intercourse with him.

Gradually, the personality changes so much that it is no longer possible to live differently.

stockholm shopper syndrome

It turns out that the "hostage syndrome" can refer to more than just the "victim-aggressor" scheme. A banal representative of the syndrome can be an ordinary shopaholic - a person who unconsciously makes expensive purchases or uses expensive services, after which he tries to justify unnecessary spending. This situation is considered a particular manifestation of a distorted perception of one's own choice.

In other words, a person suffers from an acute form of the so-called “consumer appetite”, however, unlike many people, he subsequently does not recognize the waste of money, but tries to convince himself and those around him that the acquired things are extremely necessary for him, and if not now, then for sure.

This kind of syndrome also refers to psychological cognitive distortions and represents constantly recurring mental errors and inconsistencies between statements and reality. This has been repeatedly researched and proven in numerous experiments in psychology.

Stockholm syndrome in this manifestation is perhaps one of the most harmless forms of psychopathology, however, it can also have negative domestic and social consequences.

Diagnosis of Stockholm Syndrome

Modern psychological practice in diagnosing cognitive distortions is based on a whole combination of specially thought-out clinical-psychological and psychometric methods.

The main clinical and psychological option is considered to be a phased clinical diagnostic survey of the patient and the use of a clinical diagnostic scale.

These methods consist of a list of questions that allow the psychologist to detect deviations in various aspects of the patient's mental state. These can be affective disorders, cognitive, anxiety, provoked by a state of shock or taking psychoactive drugs, etc. At each stage of the survey, the psychologist can, if necessary, move from one stage of the interview to another.

If necessary, relatives or close people of the patient can be involved in the final diagnosis.

Of the other most common diagnostic techniques in the practice of doctors, the following can be distinguished:

rating scale for determining the severity of psychological trauma;

the Mississippi scale for determining post-traumatic reaction;

an interview with Beck to determine the level of depression;

interviews to determine the depth of psychopathological features;

PTSD scale.

Treatment of Stockholm Syndrome

Treatment is carried out mainly with the help of psychotherapy. It goes without saying that the use of drug therapy is far from always appropriate, since few patients believe that they are suffering from any pathology at all.

Properly conducted psychotherapy can be a promising treatment, since the patient’s right attitude allows him to independently develop effective options for overcoming mental changes, as well as learn to recognize illusory conclusions and take the necessary measures in time, and possibly even prevent cognitive anomalies.

The cognitive treatment regimen uses a variety of cognitive and behavioral strategies. The applied techniques are aimed at detecting and evaluating misconceptions and misleading inferences and mental constructions. During the treatment course, the patient learns to perform the following operations:

watch your thoughts that arise automatically;

to trace the relationship between their thoughts and behavior,

evaluate your emotions

analyze facts that confirm or refute their own conclusions;

make a real assessment of what is happening;

recognize functional disorders that may lead to distortion of inferences.

Unfortunately, emergency care for Stockholm syndrome is not possible.

Only the victim's independent awareness of the real damage from his position, the assessment of the illogicality of his actions and the lack of prospects for illusory hopes will allow him to abandon the role of a person humiliated and deprived of his own opinion.

But without consulting a specialist, it will be very difficult, almost impossible, to achieve success in treatment. Therefore, the patient must be under the supervision of a psychologist or psychotherapist throughout the entire period of rehabilitation.

Prevention of stockholm syndrome

When conducting a negotiation process during hostage-taking, one of the main goals of the mediator is considered to be pushing the aggressive and injured parties to mutual sympathy.

Indeed, the Stockholm syndrome (as practice shows) significantly increases the chances of the hostages to survive.

The task of the mediator of negotiations is to encourage, and even provoke the development of the syndrome.

In the future, with people who were taken hostage and survived safely, repeated consultations with a psychologist will be held. The prognosis of the Stockholm syndrome will depend on the qualifications of a particular psychotherapist, on the desire of the victim himself to meet the needs of a specialist, as well as on the depth and degree of traumatization of the human psyche.

The difficulty lies in the fact that all of the above mental abnormalities are extremely unconscious.

None of the victims tries to understand the real reasons for their behavior. He shows his behavior unconsciously, following a subconsciously built algorithm of actions. The natural inner desire of the victim to feel safe and have protection pushes her to fulfill any conditions, even if they are invented on her own.

Movies about Stockholm Syndrome

There are quite a few films in world cinematography that vividly illustrate cases when hostages went towards terrorists, warning them of danger and even shielding them with themselves. To learn more about this syndrome, we recommend watching the following films:

Chase, USA, 1994. A criminal escapes from prison, steals a car and takes a customer hostage in a store. Gradually, the girl gets to know the kidnapper better and is imbued with warm feelings for him.

"Excess Luggage", USA, 1997. A car thief steals another BMW, not suspecting that along with the car he is also stealing a girl who hid in the trunk ...

“Tie me up”, Spain, 1989-1990. A film about the kidnapping of an actress by a guy, which subsequently gave rise to mutual feelings for each other.

"City of Thieves", USA, 2010. An exciting film about the relationship between a robber and his former hostage.

"Backtrack", USA, 1990. A hired killer needs to deal with a girl walker who has become an unwitting witness to the mafia showdown. Knowing the girl better, he falls in love with her and goes on the run with her.

"Executioner", USSR, 1990. A girl is raped and, in order to take revenge, is forced to hire a bandit. However, a situation arises that forces the victim to forgive his offenders.

"Stockholm Syndrome", Russia, Germany, 2014. A young girl who went on a business trip to Germany is kidnapped right in the middle of the street.

Such a phenomenon as "Stockholm syndrome" is usually considered paradoxical, and the developing attachment of victims to criminals is unreasonable. Is it really?

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