Stockholm syndrome does exist and has been heavily researched.
Stockholm syndrome was created
without any diagnostic evidence actually. The psychiatrist
didn't speak with a single hostage before coming up with that term. Literally just went "trust me bro".
Its creator made it up to excuse police after a woman was angry at the government during a bank heist. The government was willing to sacrifice her and several other hostages to capture and kill the assailants; meanwhile, one of the people taking her hostage cared more about her wellbeing than even the police did. She didn't "fall in love with" or "side with" the people taking her hostage. Instead, she just called the police out for treating their lives so flagrantly while the police and politicians were concerned about not being seen as pussy for caring about their own citizens on some "We don't bow to criminals" type shit.
So, no, Stockholm Syndrome Does Not Exist. The term spits on Kristin Enmark went through and sides with over-institutionalization, false diagnoses, and sexism. None of these things work in your favor.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-23/is-stockholm-syndrome-a-myth/102738084
https://mentalzon.com/en/post/6599/is-stockholm-syndrome-a-psychiatric-reality-or-a-convenient-myth
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...m-syndrome-meaning-bank-robbery-b2399531.html
And though some research shows that something like Stockholm syndrome does exist, it's significantly less prevalent than people would believe:
https://md-eksperiment.org/en/post/...ence-and-why-its-rarely-the-right-label-today
And even still, I think calling it Stockholm syndrome considering what
actually happened that day is a very severe mislabeling. Something like Survivalist Affection or Survivalist Affective syndrome would probably be more accurate.
Trauma Bonding, on the other hand, is very real and a valid response to reduce pain and suffering on the victim. It's just also not Stockholm syndrome, which is, to me,
not real and trauma bonding
should not be called that.
-signed, a firm believer that Stockholm syndrome should stay in fiction if it ever exists at all