Elderly woman - wikimedia commons[/caption]Carol Forsloff----Gunmen take hostages in a Kenyan mall, kill some and free others, something most people would recognize as a devastating event. But another type of hostage-taking can also negatively impact lives on the personal or interpersonal level causing individual and collective harm.
That psychological hostage-taking has as examples the husband or wife who withholds affection, financial support and uses verbal abuse to control. It is the man in the neighborhood who divides a community into factions that destroy support in a group so fear, anxiety and mistrust occur. It is the employer who offers threats of closure, firing and other intimidating gestures in order to maintain power. It is a government that cannot make good decisions because of the intractability of the few. These examples can cause individuals psychological harm that can affect health and social well-being.
Ruth, age 76, lives in a condominium community, in an area where many of these housing structures are failing or have widespread damage. Community management has authorized extensive repairs, as some areas of the complex are considered dangerous. For Ruth the thousands of dollars of extra money that she would be assessed is a frightening notion. This leaves her open for manipulation by those whose mission may be less to question authority or find new and less expensive repairs than to obtain control over the community itself. She loses trust in the management as the psychological hostage-taking spreads, impacting others and causing them to submit to the whims of those opposing change. The loss of money is a frightening thing, and over time the tension builds, especially as anger is heightened all around her. Ruth says, “what can I do? I don't have the money so I can't move. I can't pay the additional fees” as the building damage accelerates and lawsuits interrupt repairs. She becomes a hostage in her own home.
This is one of the reasons housing experts recommend checking HOA fees and other issues before buying into a condominium complex. On the other hand, issues can develop over time that make it especially hard for those without the means to fix extensive and expensive repairs that might have been done with less expense at an earlier time.
In another situation, Gordon Hiller sits alone at his children's home with a physical illness that impairs his mobility and eyesight. He is at the mercy of a son-in-law who complains daily of the extra burden and threatens to put the old man in a home or on the streets. This has gone on for several years, as Hiller's health deteriorates because of depression and the subsequent lack of will. There seems no way out in this psychological hostage-taking that experts tell us can create serious emotional and physical health problems at a vulnerable time of life.
On a socio-political level politicians can hold an entire country in a psychological hostage-taking situation, as they force ideas that can create personal stress. Threats to reducing Social Security benefits or Medicare frightens those who rely upon it to live. The poorest lose homes, and when they look for alternatives, the doors are slammed shut as states and municipalities see their local funds dwindle. It is a problem not just in the United States but around the world, where those who are already poor find themselves with the threat of even more impoverishment.
The violence of taking hostages in wars and terrorism is easily understood as disrupting and impacting lives in a way that can have long-term consequences. But it is the unspoken threats that last over days, months and years that experts tell us often can be as devastating a psychological trauma as physical kidnapping.
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