Is anyone clouded by Stockholm Syndrome ?

by A Paduan 2 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  A Paduan

  In relation to your jw captors (and abusers of your life and good will) that is ?
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  theinfamousone

  heres the thing... maybe im smarter than most kidnapees, or maybe i am just to F*ed up to suffer from stockholm syndrome... but i dont miss it one bit, and never felt that those good for nothings were good for me... so no, im not clouded by stockholm syndrome... im so glad im not their captive anymore

  --the infamous one
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  Lady Lee

  I don't know that Stockholm Syndrome really applies to many of those who leave the WTS.

  Wikipedia states:

  The Stockholm syndrome is a psychological response sometimes seen in an abducted hostage, in which the hostage exhibits loyalty to the hostage-taker, in spite of the danger (or at least risk) in which the hostage has been placed. Stockholm syndrome is also sometimes discussed in reference to other situations with similar tensions, such as battered person syndrome, child abuse cases, and bride kidnapping.

  The syndrome is named after the Norrmalmstorg robbery of Kreditbanken at Norrmalmstorg, Stockholm, Sweden, in which the bank robbers held bank employees hostage from August 23 to August 28, 1973. In this case, the victims became emotionally attached to their victimizers, and even defended their captors after they were freed from their six-day ordeal. The term was coined by the criminologist and psychiatristNils Bejerot, who assisted the police during the robbery, and referred to the syndrome in a news broadcast.

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm_syndrome Red is mine

  After I was DFed in 1985 I still believed and for ten years after that. But once I realized the manipulations I could no longer defend them. I do believe there are many who like me continue to believe.

  But once the spell is broken the loyalty evaporates. Those who turn to the internet and find the real scoop on the WTS are able to be free much faster.

  I do, however, believe that many ex-cult members suffer from symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-traumatic_stress_disorder

  Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a term for certain psychological consequences of exposure to, or confrontation with, stressful experiences that the person experiences as highly traumatic. [1] The experience must involve actual or threatened death, serious physical injury, or a threat to physical and/or psychological integrity. It is occasionally called post-traumatic stress reaction to emphasize that it is a routine result of traumatic experience rather than a manifestation of a pre-existing psychological weakness on the part of the patient.

  It is possible for individuals to experience traumatic stress without manifesting Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, as indicated in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

  Symptoms of PTSD can include the following: nightmares, flashbacks, emotional detachment or numbing of feelings (emotional self-mortification or dissociation), insomnia, avoidance of reminders and extreme distress when exposed to the reminders ("triggers"), irritability, hypervigilance, memory loss, and excessive startle response, clinical depression and anxiety, loss of appetite.

  Experiences likely to induce the condition include:

  • childhood physical/emotional or sexualabuse
  • adult experiences of rape or war,
  • occupational experiences such as through Policing or combat exposure (combat stress reaction)
  • violent attacks
  • a serious motor/car accident
  • witnessing the sudden death of a loved one
  • natural catastrophes, such as an earthquake or tsunami
  • life-threatening childbirth complications
  • prostitution
  • "bad trip" after taking hallucinogenic drugs
  • post Cult/Sect/New Religious Movement experience/abuse
  • experiencing physical or psychologicaltorture
  • major surgery such as heart surgery