How are the hostages after their release? Researchers have studied the issue and assessed the psychological state of former hostages.
For days, weeks, months, sometimes years spent in captivity before finding freedom. If the release of a hostage is often a moment of jubilation, the question of their state of health should not be discounted. What are the consequences of these periods of detention on the psychological balance of the hostages? Researchers who have followed the ex-hostages give some answers.
Should we let the hostages return home after their release?
This is often the first desire of ex-hostages return home and rejoin their families. Should we accede to this request? The question is not so simple after doctors and psychologists who follow the former hostages. The latter point indeed in the first moments of their release, former inmates often tend to minimize the psychological impact of their adventure. The medical supervision of 52 victims of an American hostage in Iran in the 1990s confirmed. Upon arrival at the medical camp they said they were "ready to go home." But after 4 days of psychological counseling are all agreed that this initial feeling was too optimistic in view of their health and this period of rest they needed. Doctors also believe that the former hostages who were the early days, a psychological support program were less likely to suffer later from a Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.
How can we objectively evaluate the stress state of an ex-hostage?
According to investigators, an evaluation of the stress level through the scales commonly used by psychiatrists is insufficient. Indeed, it appears that many former inmates tend to minimize the stress they feel. The researchers then used biological measures to assess the extent of trauma. It dosent cortisol. This hormone is a marker of stress. Cortisol, among other things allows to identify a syndrome of PTSD. This effect may persist for many years after the events. Thus, some veterans of the Vietnam War have yet to present levels of cortisol abnormally high. Researchers who have followed the former hostages of Iran have measured their cortisol levels and realized that it was often much higher than normal, even when ex-prisoners reported feeling little stress.
Are we all equal when it comes to a hostage?
Apparently not! In any case show that physicians who have followed the hostages released from Iran. Among them were soldiers but also civilians. By comparing these two groups, psychologists discovered that the military seemed less disturbed by this experience.
For days, weeks, months, sometimes years spent in captivity before finding freedom. If the release of a hostage is often a moment of jubilation, the question of their state of health should not be discounted. What are the consequences of these periods of detention on the psychological balance of the hostages? Researchers who have followed the ex-hostages give some answers.
Should we let the hostages return home after their release?
This is often the first desire of ex-hostages return home and rejoin their families. Should we accede to this request? The question is not so simple after doctors and psychologists who follow the former hostages. The latter point indeed in the first moments of their release, former inmates often tend to minimize the psychological impact of their adventure. The medical supervision of 52 victims of an American hostage in Iran in the 1990s confirmed. Upon arrival at the medical camp they said they were "ready to go home." But after 4 days of psychological counseling are all agreed that this initial feeling was too optimistic in view of their health and this period of rest they needed. Doctors also believe that the former hostages who were the early days, a psychological support program were less likely to suffer later from a Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.
How can we objectively evaluate the stress state of an ex-hostage?
According to investigators, an evaluation of the stress level through the scales commonly used by psychiatrists is insufficient. Indeed, it appears that many former inmates tend to minimize the stress they feel. The researchers then used biological measures to assess the extent of trauma. It dosent cortisol. This hormone is a marker of stress. Cortisol, among other things allows to identify a syndrome of PTSD. This effect may persist for many years after the events. Thus, some veterans of the Vietnam War have yet to present levels of cortisol abnormally high. Researchers who have followed the former hostages of Iran have measured their cortisol levels and realized that it was often much higher than normal, even when ex-prisoners reported feeling little stress.
Are we all equal when it comes to a hostage?
Apparently not! In any case show that physicians who have followed the hostages released from Iran. Among them were soldiers but also civilians. By comparing these two groups, psychologists discovered that the military seemed less disturbed by this experience.
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