The Focus Clinic

        The recent case of Natasha Kampusch, the 18 year-old Austrian woman who was abducted when she was 10 and who escaped her captor only two weeks ago, has touched the world, and continues to fascinate.

In March 1998, Natasha Kampusch was on her way to school when she had the misfortune to meet Wolfgang Priklopil, who abducted her, dragging her into a white van. Priklopil held her captive in a tiny cellar beneath his house for eight years. When she escaped, she was referred to by a police investigator as “white-pale, looking as if she had been out of the light of day for a long time. But she articulated well and could read and write” (Source: the Austria Press Agency). Her captor died after throwing himself in front of a train.

Further information about the Natasha Kampusch’s case can be found on the BBC website (text and video): http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/5322438.stm

On September 6, the woman gave her first TV interview and appeared calm and very straight forward, which many viewers perceived as totally unexpected behaviour from someone having been through such a traumatic experience. However, Natasha developed strong survival behaviour during her eight years of captivity. She learnt how to control her behaviour towards her abductor in order to make her captivity less painful. Should she experience any sort of anxiety or stress during the interview, Natasha knew how to control her behaviour – by simply repeating the same pattern of survival behaviour.

The team of psychiatrists who work with her mentioned that she suffered from the Stockholm syndrome, which occurs under the unusual conditions of extreme stress in captivity and a high degree of uncertainty about forthcomimg events. The captive’s mind creates this defence mechanism in order to enable him/her to cope with the emotional disturbance, as stress hormones suddenly cannot perform their role anymore. In a situation of captivity, activating the ‘flight or fight’ response is irrelevant, as the prisoner is powerless. He can therefore only internalise the extreme stress and freeze, (not good as it may create lesions in the digestive system in the long run), or develop the ‘Stockholm syndrome’ as a coping strategy.

When captives suffer from the Stockholm syndrome, they may appear to become involved to some degree with their captor, and even consent to abuse and captivity. They may express feelings of affection in a way that surprises outsiders, and makes them wonder at just how captive and abused the person really is. They are trying to arrange their otherwise unsafe and difficult world for maximum comfort and safety.

Another effect of sudden captivity, and being housed in a dark and small cellar, as was the case for Natasha Kampusch, is that it diminishes the victim’s will to escape. Disturbed daylight patterns, physical abuse, loss of control over necessary bodily functions, and the lack of communication, often break down hostages’ will to escape.

Natasha Kampusch is the living proof that all human beings are different, as she managed to be strong enough to keep her thoughts of escape intact during all these years in captivity. Her values, her identity, and her whole way of looking at the world have not ENTIRELY been changed. This will probably help her to rebuild her life more easily.

It is not going to be easy for her, though. Eight years spent in traumatic captivity, and very little communication with the outside world, cannot leave even the strongest human being without some negative effects. She has probably suffered from various degrees of emotional disturbance and will need to work on them with her team of psychiatrists and psychotherapists. She also refused to discuss any possible sexual abuse committed by her captor, which may indicate suppressed thoughts and emotions on the matter. Monitoring her psychological state by discussing her thoughts, emotions, action tendencies, and also any flashbacks and dreams will be necessary, in order to assess any possible emotional disturbance.

She will also have to learn how to adapt to her new life and interact with the world, as a young adult. The ‘normality’ that she lived whilst in captivity has been her normal life for the last 8 years, and changing habits can be quite daunting. Psychological help will be required in order for her to accept her new life.

Natasha Kampusch has just closed a traumatic chapter of her life, and we can only wish her the best in the future. She is a brave young woman, who managed to escape her captor, by making that pact with her ‘older self’ that she would escape one day. Her freedom proves that motivation plays an important role in whatever you want to achieve: if you believe in your goal, you WILL reach it.

Stephanie – info@thefocusclinic.co.uk