JasonDavidTan

PTSD, Brainwashing and Stockholm Syndrome

Eden went for a physical yesterday and her doctor recommended that she see a psychologist. Eden’s doctor feels that she is suffering from PTSD after her 79 days under detention and residential surveillance (RS).  She has not been able to sleep since she has been home.  She has mentioned things that she misses about being under RS and that she felt strange about living normally.  For example, she feels the need to ask someone’s permission to use the bathroom.   On the phone she sounds fine.  There are some issues in her life that she is struggling with too, family and work.   Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

     Stockholm Syndrome 

In order for Stockholm syndrome to occur in any given situation, at least three traits must be present:

• A severely uneven power relationship in which the captor dictates what the prisoner can and cannot do
• The threat of death or physical injury to the prisoner at the hands of the captor
• A self-preservation instinct on the part of the prisoner

In the most basic, generalized way, the Stockholm syndrome process as seen in a kidnapping or hostage situation looks something like this:

1. In a traumatic and extraordinarily stressful event, a person finds herself held captive by a man who is threatening to kill her if she disobeys him in any way. She may be abused - physically, sexually and/or verbally - and having trouble thinking straight. According to the captor, escape is not an option. She will end up dead. Her family may end up dead, too. Her only chance at survival is obedience.
2. As time goes on, obedience alone may become less of a sure thing - the captor is under stress as well, and a change in his mood could mean harmful consequences to his prisoner. Figuring out what might set off her captor’s violence so she can avoid those triggers becomes another survival strategy. In this way, she gets to know her captor.
3. A minor act of kindness on the part of the captor, which can include simply not killing the prisoner yet, positions the captor as the prisoner’s savior, as “ultimately good,” to quote young Anne Frank’s famous characterization of the Nazis who ultimately led to her death. In the traumatic, life-threatening circumstances in which the prisoner finds herself, the slightest act of kindness - or the sudden absence of violence - seems a sign of friendship in an otherwise hostile, terrifying world, and the prisoner clings to it for dear life.
4. The captor slowly seems less threatening - more an instrument for survival and protection than one of harm. The prisoner undergoes what some call an act of self-delusion: In order to survive psychologically as well as physically - to lessen the unimaginable stress of the situation - the prisoner comes to truly believe that the captor is her friend, that he will not kill her, that in fact they can help each other “get out of this mess.” The people on the outside trying to rescue her seem less like her allies. They are going to hurt this person who is protecting her from harm. The fact that this person is also the source of that potential harm gets buried in the process of self-delusion.

http://health.howstuffworks.com/mental-health/mental-disorders/stockholm-syndrome.htm

http://everydaypsychology.com/2007/01/why-do-kidnap-victims-sometimes-fail-to.html

Understanding Stockholm Syndrome FBI - http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/law-enforcement-bulletin/2007-pdfs/july07leb.pdf

     Brainwashing

Because brainwashing is such an invasive form of influence, it requires the complete isolation and dependency of the subject, which is why you mostly hear of brainwashing occurring in prison camps or totalist cults. The agent (the brainwasher) must have complete control over the target (the brainwashee) so that sleep patterns, eating, using the bathroom and the fulfillment of other basic human needs depend on the will of the agent. In the brainwashing process, the agent systematically breaks down the target’s identity to the point that it doesn’t work anymore. The agent then replaces it with another set of behaviors, attitudes and beliefs that work in the target’s current environment.

However, thankfully…

Regardless of which definition you use, many experts believe that even under ideal brainwashing conditions, the effects of the process are most often short-term — the brainwashing victim’s old identity is not in fact eradicated by the process, but instead is in hiding, and once the “new identity” stops being reinforced the person’s old attitudes and beliefs will start to return.

http://people.howstuffworks.com/brainwashing.htm

Memory

Remembering experiences and events can be a difficult thing.  I know people who can instantly recall details of events and experiences that happened years before.  Details like numbers, dates, names, places and people.  I am amazed by people who can do this.  It’s really impressive when someone can instantly relate to your situation with exact numbers and stories of similar situations they have known in the past.  My memory happens to be more geared toward remembering concepts, and sometimes it takes me some time to fully recall things that have happened in the past.  I remember things in context, I have to remember what I was doing, where I was, what the key points were, and then I can back into whatever information that I”m trying to recall.  Eden has one of those memories where right off the top of her head she can tell you exact dates, values, names etc., which I am sure is what has made her so successful as a banker.  

I’ve been catching back up with friends and family since I’ve gotten back.  It’s exhausting, even though it’s no trouble, retelling stories of what has happened.  Recounting events requires reliving moments, allowing emotions to  bubble up from the past, emotions that are strong and often times unpleasant and painful.  This is what makes it difficult…  Invariably people that care about you express their concern for your safety and it brings another flood of emotions.  Knowing that these people that love you have also been touched, that they have shared in a terrible experience through you and have worried about you brings feelings of guilt about causing them this pain and trouble in their lives.  Knowing that anyone has lost a minute of sleep thinking about whether I am ok makes me well up and at the same time I truly feel lucky to have people who care about me in my life.  

I know Eden feels the same way.  Thanks to everyone who has reached out since she’s been back.  Please understand this is a time of readjustment for Eden and please don’t worry.  

Thanks

Thanks for all the attention! 

If anyone wants to use any information from this blog please do not misrepresent what is here.  This is a personal blog and I’m not responsible for any misinformation or anything taken out of context. 

Driving

Just got done with a really hectic end of the week.  Drove home from Kentucky and had an interview in Charlotte today.  Glad to be home!

Eden read up on my blog last night.  She complained about my post on how we met.  Apparently it only conveyed the facts and did not do a good job at capturing the brilliance and magic of our meeting.  It was definitely special, but I have no idea how to put it in words.  I hate cliches, but I do understand a lot of them after meeting Eden that never made sense to me before.  Words like “she makes me a better person” and “soul mate” always seemed saccharin and made up and would cause my eyes roll, involuntarily, into my head when I heard them.  Now I can’t think of anything more appropriate to say.  Calming too.  

Thanks Gurpreet, Mandana, Sophie and Rod!  It was great to see you.

Just GREAT news!  Tell her we’re waiting for her in Durham.

-Moe