The Cycle of Abuse - Chapter 5 - Stockholm Syndrome

On August 23rd, 1973 two machine-gun carrying criminals entered a bank in Stockholm, Sweden. Blasting their guns, one prison escapee named Jan-Erik Olsson announced to the terrified bank employees "The party has just begun!" The two bank robbers held four hostages, three women and one man, for the next 131 hours.
The hostages were strapped with dynamite and held in a bank vault until finally rescued on August 28th.
After their rescue, the hostages exhibited a shocking attitude considering they were threatened, abused, and feared for their lives for over five days. In their media interviews, it was clear that they supported their captors and actually feared law enforcement personnel who came to their rescue. The hostages had begun to feel the captors were actually protecting them from the police. One woman later became engaged to one of the criminals and another developed a legal defense fund to aid in their criminal defense fees!
Clearly, the hostages had "bonded" emotionally with their captors.

The psychological undercurrents to this have been dubbed "The Stockholm Syndrome", as the reactions  of the hostages clearly depict the kinds of behaviour that are exhibited by abuse victims. In even the short term, severe traumatic abuse can and does have lasting effects, whether that be physical, emotional or a combination of the two. Multiply this exposure by several years and you have a chronic debility that is hard to overcome.

Natalie clearly exhibited behaviours that corresponded to this. Her home was her prison - here she found refuge, away from the concerned questioning of relatives and friends as to why she tolerated the abuse she was receiving. Fred was her captor - in some sickeningly paradoxical way, his violence also gave him a role as her 'protector' from the outside world - after all, who was ever going to confront him, or even say anything in earshot? So Natalie kept going back to her captor, something she had done time and again. Yes, despite experiencing all the trappings of a comfortable, loving new life, she was drawn back once more. The years of abuse had literally squeezed the will out of her, she couldn't maintain the belief that she was actually free from Fred. He had threatened her so many times; how he would kill himself, the children, family, friends, even Natalie, if she left him for good. He was very clever, as so many abusers can be - he would bide his time, wait for an appropriate moment (usually some kind of family crisis) and then wind her back in again with either false promises or more threats. No external force or person was strong enough to overcome this for very long and Natalie was mentally exhausted - her abused life had taken it's toll. She literally "gave up", her very existence now so completely subjugated that she was but a puppet in some sad cameo.

Natalie is still imprisoned today...
Some would say "by choice". But what choice does she have?
The power to reason it out enough to determine and act upon a solution is continually diluted by Fred's influence.