Stockholm Syndrome?

[KayJ92]

Can you actually have Stockholm syndrome without being kidnapped and what's the symptoms?

Thanks, in advance.

 

[Killashandra]

Stockholm syndrome
feelings of trust or affection felt in many cases of kidnapping or hostage-taking by a victim towards a captor.

I am unsure if this is or can be applied to cases where no hostage or captive situation is prevalent,

However you can have these feelings of trust and affection for your abuser, most from what I have read and experienced occured in some situations of juvenile sexual abuse. In some cases the only affection the child recieves is abuse, and even though this abuse is happening it is the only time a child feels nurtured and cared for, hence feelings grow of affection and trust.

As an adult these feelings are conflicted with "it was a bad thing" and " but they seemed to care for me"

 

[Air]

There's something called "traumatic bonding" which is basically a more encompassing term for bonding with an abuser, Stockholm syndrome is a more specific term to do with hostage situations and kidnapping.

 

[anthony]

Can you actually have Stockholm syndrome without being kidnapped

I would ask where you got this idea from to begin with? And why are you trying to find symptoms for it?

 

[Friday]

Can you actually have Stockholm syndrome without being kidnapped and what's the symptoms?

Stockholm Syndrome is a descriptor of a very specific thing between short term abductor/abductee or hostage taker / hostage.

Outside of those 2 situations, in short, no.

A lot of abuse victims try and co-opt the term... But it's actually the other way around; Stockholm Syndrome is trying to describe how what happens to some people in a very specific kind of traumatic circumstance that -in a very short period of time- very nearly exactly mimics the behaviors of and patterns one could expect to find in long term abuse victims, with years of conditioning and setting patterns of behavior.

 

[lostforgottensoul]

Yes, I had it and wasnt technically or legally kidnapped. I was legally in custody of my mom though she was in contempt of court. Didnt mean much when my dad didnt care to take her back to court.

I was raised inside of a cult headed by my mom & step dad, even 10 years later with no contact, i defended them down to every single detail and empathized with them to every detail and rip off your face as a knee jerk reaction if you dared to say one bad word about them.

 

[shimmerz]

Stockholm Syndrome is not actually an official diagnosis. It isn't in the DSM.

Traumatic bonding could be seen as a possible replacement, but I think that one of the things that really comes to mind whenever I reference Stockholm Syndrome is that the relationship is based on isolation and abuse, where in the end, the abused actually defends the abuser - no matter what. I am not certain that this element of the dynamic is addressed when looking at the traumatic bonding model.

The 'feel good' part, where the captor has their victim buying into 'their relationship' plays out as a lack of abuse, which is seen by the victim of a form of positive bonding (or love).

 

[Ronin]

I am not certain that this element of the dynamic is addressed when looking at the traumatic bonding model.

But that's attitude, the defense - more having to do /with the victim/ than the situation itself.

Aka it's unrelated - where trauma bonding & Stockholm sy both describe specific attachments in concrete settings - it's more an individual variation, than about the nature of the trauma.

 

[shimmerz]

But that's attitude, the defense - more having to do /with the victim/ than the situation itself.

I am not so certain of that. I know of people who KNOW that they are being abused and don't actually rush to the rescue of their abuser. Many battered women, for instance, know they are being abused but are so trauma bonded and dependent upon the abuser that they can't leave.

I am referring to something different in the trauma bonding model. Something that is addressed in Stockholm Syndrome. The actual defense of the abused towards the abuser.

 

[Ronin]

I'm just saying it's something that may be worth of having its separate title and discussions.

Because long term abuse or captivity situations are different from short term ones, and Stockholm syndrome isn't to describe those. Co-opting the term, as all appropriation, only confuses the matters, which complicates helping people.

 

[shimmerz]

I'm just saying it's something that may be worth of having its separate title and discussions.

Yes, I agree. But there isn't a term for it yet. So I generally choose the one that applies the most. So yes, I use the term Stockholm Syndrome. But that is just me. Others can do what they feel is right for them.

 

[lostforgottensoul]

The 'feel good' part, where the captor has their victim buying into 'their relationship' plays out as a lack of abuse, which is seen by the victim of a form of positive bonding (or love).

Absoulty! I dont know if this is true in all (like the hostage bank robbery ? it was named after) but in my case this was a HUGE element. My step dad had me believed he was in love with me and confused for love.

Though it can be found in non-kidnap victims, a huge part of it is being captive (whether kidnapped or not) and I agree the isolation is an extremely huge part. Though isolation is a part of most abuse, in the act of being captive, there is extreme isolation I think. My entire family, no friends only them, went to school but i had to "earn" that and then "earn" the remainder of the time out where they knew id come back and never tell a soul.

I think thats a big part of it too in both kidnapped and non-kidnapped, feeling like going into the real world is a privledge that your kidnappers or ones holding you captive were doing you a favor.

No matter the horrors being done, id always come back as i saw it all as "love" and the remainder justified due to "what I did". Its how i defended it and them even years later.