Other Stockholm syndrome and ptsd

[shimmerz]

This could relate to both domestic violence and sexual assault. I was looking it up for reasons that I don't really want to delve into right now. I feel like it is a big piece of the guilt and shame of PTSD. just wondering what people think? Is it possibly a likely comorbid piece of PTSD?

This got me right in the gut.
Kuleshnyk (1984) stated that any person who found themselves in a hostage situation was best served by fostering Stockholm Syndrome. Doing so allowed the hostages to better identify with the attackers and survive the encounter by working with the aggressors rather than against them. From this, it can be argued that Stockholm Syndrome is another method of coping with the stress and danger of the hostage situation while simultaneously allowing the victim to avoid the inherently dangerous option of resisting their captors by identifying with them. Stockholm Syndrome is similar to some forms of coping in that the participants do not directly address the problem but find a way to cope with the situation by identifying with the aggressor. Coping mechanisms such as these can have a large impact on PTSD.

Here is the link in case anyone is interested ....
http://www.studentpulse.com/article...t-traumatic-stress-disorder-in-battered-women

Edited to add: I think many of us would be surprised to actually process that we were hostages. it is a hard word to swallow

 

[Beachlife09]

I was reading about this the other day because I tend to be this way a bit. It's an awkward situation to be in because you don't want to defend what They did yet at the same time you don't want something bad to happen to them because you feel this odd connection.... if that makes any sense. (i'm not very good at putting it into my own words :sorry:)

 

[Anarchy]

It makes huge sense, both on a micro scale with abusive partners and families, and on a macro scale with the terrorist gangs called governments, and a big one of those may hold over a billion individuals hostage.

now watch the macro scale sufferers come out of the woodwork to express their denial;)

:hug:@

 

[Ronin]

I'm thinking though some distinctions would be useful. As in complex situations of dependency aren't the same as being physically held. Ditto to social norms enforcing certain behaviors vs. abusive relationships (good point Anarchy). It's all rather different flavors of coffee.

 

[joeylittle]

The study of these things is interesting.

If I were to summarize the link @shimmerz provided, there have been a number of investigations into the correlations between Stockholm Syndrome (SS) and PTSD. SS is indeed a coping mechanism, originally identified in a back hostage situation in Stockholm. It makes sense to see if there is a relationship between SS, PTSD, and battered women (who in many ways can be described as being part of a hostage situation - though it's important to point out that the circumstances by definition are in no way identical).

No study so far has identified a correlative link between PTSD and SS.

The study reported on in the bulk of this article used a rather small sample set (46 women, drawn from two different shelters for battered women) and three subjective measuring scales (PTSD checklist for civilians, SS scale, and the Women Abuse Scale (WAS). While there was a direct relationship between the WAS and PTSD in individuals, there was no significant relationship between SS and PTSD - these findings are also borne out in a 2000 study on the same topic.

This quote is worth reading:

There was an interesting, albeit nonsignificant pattern, which emerged...First, when Stockholm Syndrome is low, a correlation between abuse and PTSD emerged. This result provides for the possibility that Stockholm Syndrome somehow mitigates the relationship between PTSD and abuse even though Stockholm Syndrome is not explicitly correlated with either PTSD or the amount of abuse the women suffer. In addition, those low in Stockholm Syndrome showed a stronger correlation with PTSD than those high in Stockholm Syndrome. This correlational pattern indicates as well that there is the possibility that Stockholm Syndrome and PTSD may, in fact, have an inverse relationship to that previously hypothesized in this study. Stockholm Syndrome may be related to PTSD in a tri-modal relationship with abuse meaning that the three conditions have a complicated and interdependent relationship. However, further research with larger sample sizes and more rigorously tested materials is needed to determine whether this tri-modal relationship is the case.

I think people get this strange notion of Stockholm syndrome, that it is a kind of 'mind control' that takes over a victim's consciousness. The Patti Hearst trial in the US might have a lot to do with what people think of when they think of Stockholm (in a nutshell, a woman was kidnapped by a radical terrorist group, then joined them and participated in terrorist acts; later, when she was brought to trial, the reason given for her actual innocence was a combination of brainwashing and Stockholm Syndrome). A better, simpler way to understand it is as the phrase 'trauma bonding', occurring between victim and aggressor.

It's a name for a coping mechanism, nothing to be afraid of, but something to be understood. What is really intense about it, from my experience (I probably have a touch of it) is how strange it is when outsiders challenge it. I think I have an understanding of my kidnapper that no-one else can possibly have - and if very emotional and very provoked, I will still defend aspects of his behavior, which makes my therapist look at me like I'm from Mars. But I know there are ways it helped my mind make sense of what was happening to me. It helped, at the time. Now is about undoing the threads of it that are still in my brain.

@Anarchy, you'd probably like a book called The Oslo Syndrome (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Oslo_Syndrome), which discusses the notion that a whole society can be subject to a captor/hostage mentality.

 

[Anarchy]

Of the four Fs:

• Fight
• Flight
• Freeze
• Fawn

Stockholm Syndrome is probably a big manifestation of the fawn / suck up / brown nose response. The PTSD part of it is when it becomes embedded and continues inappropriatly with repect to what is actually going on - That really does widen the scope for who has PTSD though; wow!
____________________________________
@joeylittle your post came up while I was typing.

 

[shimmerz]

I was thinking the SS thing for children more than adults of DV. My apologies, I should have been clearer on that one. They do speak of SS with dependent spouses as well but I agree that the whole 'not actually physically held' would change the dynamics. The 'flavour' as @Kaia so eloquently put it.

 

[darrenS]

Stockholm Syndrome is probably a big manifestation of the fawn / suck up / brown nose response.

Having been in a hostage situation , you have two choices. To fight and more than likely get yourself killed or in more danger a lot earlier. The other is to work the aggressors weaknesses and play than harder than they are playing you . I find it offensive as to how you have framed it....when your life is serious danger with no outs , your choices are limited. Do you have any idea what is like to know you can be killed at any second , in a foreign country with no hope of law enforcement coming to your aid, particularly when they are part of the circle.

You cant run on stress or by the seat of your pants , it will lead to bad choices and death. You have to remain calm and balance the sucking up and fawning as they will be fully aware of the game if you push it too far. To think there is a bullet at any time with your name on it , is not something thats easy to suppress

 

[shimmerz]

@darrenS , it is a feeling/set of events/shame/actions that I have found impossible to describe to people. Truly, there are no words. So very sorry for what happened to you....

 

[Anarchy]

@darrenS I'm not criticizing any of the four Fs as instinctive survival responses. To get here, we've each been in a situation that at the time we perceived as imminently life threatening.

@shimmerz Hugs:hug:
I know that your situation was deadly, and at an age where you were absolutely defenseless. We each did what we could, even when it meant splitting ourselves to do it.

 

[Recovery4Me]

I was taught about a perceived correlation of my PTSD and Stockholm Syndrome by my therapist a decade ago. She wanted me to understand my mixed feelings during the physical DV (now x) marriage situation plus the insidious mental conditioning process that develops during survival within the cycles of DV.

It is worth at least an honorable mention of the syndrome for anyone trying to understand misplaced allegiance to their captors. There was a period of coming out of the fog, that I felt incredible false shame for being held captive. Some DV can escalate quite ferociously within remote country settings.

 

[Hope4Now]

I have zero experience of being an actual hostage. I cannot even begin to imagine the constant level of terror and the various ways different people respond to the situation in order to survive.

I grew up with parents who were emotionally and occasionally physically violent to one another. I could never figure out why they stayed together for 52 years as the situation got worse and worse. The subject of DV was not open to discussion. Completely denied by both parties who claimed they loved each other. They did, but it was a very odd love. Since my father died, my mother has rewritten the story of their lives together as one of deep devotion and happiness.

I was thinking the SS thing for children more than adults of DV

I was too, in my own selfish way. I've been intrigued by this syndrome since I heard about it.

It goes a long way to explain why children stay in abusive homes and sometimes don't even realize that they're being abused, or will tell people they're fine, even convince themselves they're fine. That the problem lies with them, and if they can only be good enough and please their parents, or love them enough, then everything might be okay...they might survive. If they grew up being abused and witnessing abuse and never knew anything else and had no touchstones of what was normal, they just figure that this is what life is like. By the time they figure out it is not normal, the damage has been done. The brainwashing and bonding has already happened. The structural dissociation has already happened.

I suppose I'm selfishly attracted to this SS theory because it helps me better understand why it took me 51 years to begin to accept the reality of what happened to me. And why I have chosen to continue to have a relationship with my mother as her caregiver (and my father while he was alive). It tells me that I am not weak or stupid or anything...just a victim. That my system did what it needed to do to survive, and served me well for a long time...until it didn't any more. Now I'm faced with the horror and feelings of shame for not having fought or fled.