A quarter of the hostages released from captivity in the Gaza Strip suffer from Stockholm syndrome, Kan News reported last week.

Stockholm syndrome is manifested by the victim’s identification with their captors as a survival mechanism and even in the development of positive feelings towards them.

The data is from a study conducted by Prof. Gil Zaltzman, the director of the Geha Mental Health Center in Petach Tikvah and chairman of the Health Ministry’s suicide prevention program.

The researchers analyzed the medical data of 102 released hostages and presented their conclusions at a conference of the Israel National Institute For Health Policy Research regarding the treatment of additional released hostages in the future.

According to Prof. Zaltsman, released hostages spoke positively about their captors after returning to Israel, and in interviews with professionals, some of them referred to their captors as “my guards.”

The phenomenon is difficult to hear for both therapists and family members.

According to the data, there is a higher percentage of women than men who suffer from the syndrome.

The study also found that Israeli citizens suffered from the syndrome at a higher rate than foreign citizens, and the likelihood of developing the syndrome increases with the amount of time spent in captivity.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)