What is Stockholm syndrome?

I read and equally watched on the television, the experiences of three victims of kidnap in the Niger Delta and North-East. Some of them were behaving as if their captives didn’t do anything wrong but just using them as shield to make money. They showed sympathy to their captives. Could that qualify as Stockholm syndrome? […]

I read and equally watched on the television, the experiences of three victims of kidnap in the Niger Delta and North-East. Some of them were behaving as if their captives didn’t do anything wrong but just using them as shield to make money. They showed sympathy to their captives. Could that qualify as Stockholm syndrome? Please provide highlights on this syndrome.  Musbahu N.

Thanks Musbahu for your question. Yes exhibiting such behavior by the victims falls under the symptoms of Stockholm syndrome which refers to “a group of psychological symptoms that  occur in some persons in a captive or hostage situation. The term takes its name from a bank robbery in Stockholm, Sweden, in August 1973. The robber took four employees of the bank (three women and one man) into the vault with him and kept them hostage for 131 hours.
After the employees were finally released, they appeared to have formed a paradoxical emotional bond with their captor; they told reporters that they saw the police as their enemy rather than the bank robber, and that they had positive feelings toward the criminal. The syndrome was first named by Nils Bejerot (1921-1988), a medical professor who specialized in addiction research and served as a psychiatric consultant to the Swedish police during the standoff at the bank. Stockholm syndrome is also known as Survival Identification Syndrome.
Stockholm syndrome is considered a complex reaction to a frightening situation, and experts do not agree completely on all of its characteristic features or on the factors that make some people more susceptible than others to developing it.
Stockholm syndrome has three central characteristics according to some experts:
1.    The hostages have negative feelings about the police or other authorities.
2.    The hostages have positive feelings toward their captor(s).
3.    The captors develop positive feelings toward the hostages.
Causes & symptoms
Stockholm syndrome does not affect all hostages, however three factors are necessary for the syndrome to develop:
1.    The crisis situation lasts for several days or longer.
2.    The hostage takers remain in contact with the hostages; that is, the hostages are not placed in a separate room.
3.    The hostage takers show some kindness toward the hostages or at least refrain from harming them. Hostages abused by captors typically feel anger toward them and do not usually develop the syndrome.
In addition, people who often feel helpless in other stressful life situations or are willing to do anything in order to survive seem to be more susceptible to developing Stockholm syndrome if they are taken hostage.
People with Stockholm syndrome report the same symptoms as those diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, insomnia, nightmares, general irritability, difficulty concentrating, being easily startled, feelings of unreality or confusion, inability to enjoy previously pleasurable experiences, increased distrust of others, and flashbacks.
1.    Treatment of Stockholm syndrome is the same as for post-traumatic stress disorder, most commonly a combination of medications for short-term sleep disturbances and psychotherapy for the longer-term symptoms.
2.    The prognosis for recovery from Stockholm syndrome is generally good, but the length of treatment needed depends on several variables. These include the nature of the hostage situation; the length of time the crisis lasted, and the individual patient’s general coping style and previous experience(s) of trauma.
3.    Prevention of Stockholm syndrome at the level of the larger society includes further development of crisis intervention skills on the part of law enforcement as well as strategies to prevent kidnapping or hostage-taking incidents in the firstplace.  On the part of the victims, its requires counseling and careful observation and support to help the person out of the experience.