"Abuse can feel like love” he asked “why?”
Damon remained so still it didn’t look like he was breathing. He looked at the teacher, unwavering.
“Starving people will eat anything.”
I stilled as his words hung in the air and for a second, I felt warm.
Stockholm syndrome is an emotional response to abuse; hostage victims develop a psychological bond with the captors during captivity.
They start identifying with demands, feelings, and choices of the captor.
The name is derived from the place where this happened for the first time Stockholm, Sweden. August of 1973, a bank was robbed where 4 employees were held hostage in the bank's vault, an incongruous bond was developed during the six days of their captivity.
Psychologists who have studied the syndrome believe that the bond is initially created when a captor threatens a captive’s life, deliberates, and then chooses not to kill the captive. The captive’s relief at the removal of the death threat is transposed into feelings of gratitude toward the captor for giving him or her life. The survival instinct is at the heart of the Stockholm syndrome.
Victims live in enforced dependence and interpret rare or small acts of kindness in the midst of horrible conditions as good treatment.
Stockholm syndrome is not recognized by the new edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-manual is used by mental health experts and other specialists to diagnose mental health disorders.
On the other hand media romanticises such a toxic syndrome, as Harveston suggests-
“Sending girls the message that an abusive situation can turn into a love story if they just stick it out and show compassion is a dangerous game.”
This syndrome has been depicted in various form from songs to movies to classic fairy tales, a few examples include the well known “Beauty and the Beast'' where the hostage that is the beauty falls for her abusive captor the beast and they lived happily ever after.
Another one which might come as a surprise is “Frozen”- the tale of the two royal orphan sisters, one with magical ice powers and the other without, who embark on this crazy journey to save their kingdom. Anna has a bubbly personality which is captivating, but also has her naive side. Through the movie, we can see that Anna spent most of her childhood years isolated, as her sister keeps herself locked up trying to figure out her powers. This might explain why Anna is so easily attracted to Hans(the prince who comes to attend the coronation) who gives her the attention she always craved and as a result she is willing to marry after a couple of minutes of meeting him.
“I know they’ll be coming to find me soon, But I fear I’m getting used to you.” A lyric from the song “Stockholm Syndrome” by One Direction.
Bollywood is not far behind the rat of this toxic romanticism- The kind hearted man behind a harsh crude abductor: The abductors are depicted as the male counterparts of the hostages.
Kidnap (2008) staring Imran Khan and Minissha Lamba , shows the story of revenge when the captor was falsely accused of kidnapping the rich man’s daughter when he was trying to save his friend, as a result he spending his time in jail growing up, after being released his first step is to kidnap the same girl, on learning the reason of her captivity the girl falls for the guy.
In Highway (2014), Veera is abducted by Mahabir but lets his guards down and starts caring for her) when he becomes emotional seeing the way Veera cares for him, reminding him of his mother. During these moments he narrates some of his childhood anecdotes and Veera unravels the tragic life story of her rough Gujjar abductor in bits and pieces for the audience that convinces that Mahabir is actually a good man while coming to terms with her own struggles.
Stockholm Syndrome is one of the many ways cultivated by the mass media to justify often controversial choices made by characters and to bring the possibility of different kinds of relationships. And for this, they always have a tendency to bring perhaps a harsh childhood story of the abductor which would be narrated during the intimate time spent with the hostage.
But the victims become relaxed in a very short period of time around their kidnappers, behaving like friends, chatting and laughing with them who threaten to kill them and their inexplicable stay even when given a chance to escape is both uncomfortable and unconvincing.
Captor and Hostage’s affection towards each other is the climax.
Stockholm Syndrome is an interesting interpersonal tie that the mass media make use of to justify often controversial and toxic choices made by people dealing with mental illnesses to the audience instead of showing what helps them and who they deal with to overcome it .
- Anam Khan
References:
https://www.britannica.com/science/Stockholm-syndrome