One hostage, Kristin Ehnmark, told reporters after the ordeal that she and her fellow hostages were more afraid of the police than Olsson. However, over the course of those 130 hours, another strange thing happened: Olsson’s hostages began to feel sympathy for their captor. The unfolding drama captured the world’s attention.
The hostage situation would last six days before police would use tear gas to subdue Olsson and rescue the hostages. (Olofsson would become Olsson’s accomplice in the Kreditbanken hostage situation, and he would go on to rob another bank two years later.) As part of the list of demands he issued to authorities, Olsson asked that Clark Olofsson, one of his friends from prison, be brought to him. He opened fire on two Swedish police officers before taking four bank employees hostage. On the morning of August 23, 1973, Jan-Erik Olsson-who was already on parole for robbery-walked into Kreditbanken, a bank in Stockholm, Sweden.
Unlike most syndromes, which are discovered over time as doctors uncover trends in their patients, the origin of Stockholm Syndrome can be traced back to one specific event. The Kreditbanken building in Norrmalmstorg, Sweden In order to be diagnosed with a syndrome like Stockholm Syndrome, a person has to exhibit most-but not all!-of the major symptoms that are associated with the syndrome itself. Instead, i t’s classified as a syndrome, which is a c ondition that’s characterized by a set of symptoms that often occur together. Stockholm Syndrome-which is also sometimes called “trauma bonding” or “terror bonding”-is defined as the “psychological tendency of a hostage to bond with, identify with, or sympathize with his or her captor.” In other words, Stockholm Syndrome occurs when someone who is held against their will starts to have positive feelings toward the person (or group) who is holding them captive.Īlso, despite being a psychological phenomenon, Stockholm Syndrome isn’t a mental disorder. (You’ll want to stick around until the end.those cases are really interesting.)