Is it really impossible for an antisocial-type person to bond with someone who abducts and abuses them: the Stockholm syndrome?
Seems that if a person is capable of bonding with their abductor, especially a cruel abductor (the Stockholm syndrome), then this individual in general makes friends extremely easy.
Or, to put this another way, isn’t it logical to conclude that “antisocial” people who don’t have any friends (who even hate shaking hands with people) would be immune to Stockholm syndrome?
The issue isn’t whether or not one easily makes friends, but why a person doesn’t make friends easily, says David M. Reiss, MD, a psychiatrist from San Diego with extensive experience in PTSD.
There are those who are reserved and cautious with making friendships, but are still capable of normal and healthy emotional relationships, says Dr. Reiss.
These individuals “may be more resilient in being able to maintain objectivity and may not be as vulnerable to their own emotional reactions, which could lead to embracing a dysfunctional relationship,” he explains.
In short, they aren’t at risk for embracing a bond with a kidnapper: Stockholm syndrome.
But then there’s another type of individual, continues Dr. Reiss.
We’ve all known men and women who tend to avoid friendships “out of fear of relationships, repressed dependency, paranoid tendencies or antisocial tendencies.”
Dr. Reiss says that these individuals “may be more vulnerable to developing an ‘alliance’ with a controlling malevolent power, albeit probably a rather unemotional relationship – but perhaps involving a lack of emotional maturity and/or a lack of ethics.”
Stockholm syndrome is not to be confused with the phenomenon of remaining with one’s captor out of fear of the consequences.
Though the fear may seem insanely illogical to those on the outside, this does not mean that the victim has experienced Stockholm syndrome.
If you do not make friends easily and are even “paranoid” or in some way apprehensive about cultivating relationships or friendships on any level, this does not mean you’re necessarily at high risk for developing Stockholm syndrome.
For obvious reasons, there have been no controlled experiments on who’s truly at highest risk for Stockholm syndrome.
