Imagine being kidnapped or taken as a captive by someone. What kind of emotions would you feel towards the kidnapper?Do you think you would form an emotional connect with the kidnapper/captor?

Well, you might.
It might sound absurd. But wonder why did Jaime defend Brienne of Tarth when she was about to get raped and gifted a Valyrian Sword in Game of Thrones. Wonder why Theon Greyjoy decides to be loyal to Ramsay Bolton despite being abused by him mentally and physically in Game of Thrones. Wonder whyRagini (Aishwarya Rai) decides to get back to meet Veera (Vikram) in the climax of Ravanan(Tamil) and expressed anguish in her eyes when he was shot?

That’s called Stockholm syndrome.
Stockholm syndromeis an actual psychological condition which causes hostages to develop a psychological alliance/emotional bond with their captors usually as a survival strategy. Initially, the captor might seem threatening and the hostage might develop deep resentment towards the captor. But as days and the time moves on in order to cope and for the survival, the hostages unknowingly develop a bond with the captors. Normally Humans are wired to form an emotional bond with the people around them. When in a threatening situation when we feel endangered or insecure, it is only normal to look up to people around us for comfort. But if the person around us is mistreating us, Stockholm syndrome arises.

There are many real-life incidents which have elucidated cases of Stockholm syndrome
in 1933,Mary McElroywas abducted from her home at age 25 by four men who held a gun against her. They demanded her compliance and also took her to an abandoned farmhouse, and later chained her to a wall.

She defended her kidnappers when she was released. She stated that they were only businessmen. She visited her captors while they were in jail. She eventually committed suicide and left the following note: “My four kidnappers are probably the only people on Earth who don't consider me an utter fool. You have your death penalty now – so, please, give them a chance”

Although Stockholm syndrome is exaggerated by media, a report by the FBI found that only 8% of kidnapping victims showed signs of Stockholm syndrome. Stockholm syndrome is also a major department of research in the concerned field of Child Sexual abuse.

And Stockholm syndrome might not arise without the hostage receiving some kind of act of kindness from the captor.

Women are especially prone to developing the condition.Although Stockholm syndrome has a lot of explanations like evolutionary perspective, learned helplessness and survival mechanism, it is evident that not all hostages develop Stockholm syndrome.

The recovery from Stockholm syndrome involves "psychiatric or psychological counselling", and the patient is helped to realize that their feelings are human survival techniques.

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Profile of Pooja Venkataramana
Pooja Venkataramana  •  4y  •  Reply
Thanks Krishna
Profile of Krishna Hariharan
Krishna Hariharan  •  4y  •  Reply
Very Informative!