Are people who get mad easily immune to developing Stockholm syndrome should they ever be held hostage?
Does it stand to reason that if it’s easy for people to anger you, that you would be incapable of getting Stockholm syndrome if abducted by one or more people?
Becoming easily angered can result from an inborn temperament type or to unresolved issues of abuse, fear or trauma, says David M. Reiss, MD, a psychiatrist from San Diego with extensive experience in PTSD.
In the case of the latter, the individual can end up with “interpersonal distrust and a tendency to be very easily disappointed, or even enraged – at times in response to minor ‘insults,’” says Dr. Reiss.
“IC” stands for involuntary captivity. When it comes to tolerating IC (a forerunner of Stockholm syndrome), anger can work two ways: 1) one easily expresses anger, and 2) one has trouble acknowledging anger.
In the case of #2, in which one denies and represses anger, “They are more likely to tolerate or excuse abuse, which likely would make them more vulnerable to Stockholm syndrome,” says Dr. Reiss.
Of course, people held hostage must learn to control expression of anger to avoid beatings by their captor. Suppressing anger is not the same as repressing it.
A hostage can feel the raging beast inside and imagine ripping the head off their captor first chance they get, yet from the captor’s point of view, this tied-up victim is as calm as a clam.
On the other hand, if the victim loses “their ability to acknowledge and experience that they are angry, they may be prone to perceive the perpetrator in unreasonably positive terms, minimizing the abuse and evil nature of the disease and instead being ‘thankful’ that ‘things aren’t worse,’” says Dr. Reiss.
Not that the victim shouldn’t be thankful they are not dead, but at the same time, says Dr. Reiss, they need to be aware of the reality, that being held hostage is nothing to be grateful for, and that feeling anger, fury, rage, the whole nine yards, is perfectly appropriate, and necessary to maintain objectivity…thus warding off Stockholm syndrome.
Summary
Dr. Reiss says that in abusive situations, “It is important to be able to experience anger without an over-reaction or unreasonable denial.
“Of course expressions of anger must be controlled in the name of safety, but a healthy ability to tolerate and control the experience of anger is probably protective, while tendencies to overly repress anger or to have difficulties coping with anger may be significant risk factors” for Stockholm syndrome.
Dr. Reiss has been in private practice 25+ years, specializing in adult and adolescent psychiatry, having evaluated and treated over 10,000 patients.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
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