Stockholm Syndrome is what deserves press

Shawn Hornbeck’s parents may have done something foolish, they may have not. They were basking in the afterglow of the fruition of a four year pursuit of their boy and then, though already in the garden of Eden, they partook of the deadliest fruit: Oprah. Daytime television’s first lady looked more like the Pied Piper leading a mob of journalists all with two scorching questions—why didn’t he leave if he had several chances, and was Shawn Hornbeck sexually abused?
The answer to the latter has finally been aired thanks to Oprah, on national TV, by his parents. Many people’s response has been to cast them into the 7th layer of hell, but in light of the fact that many details are still being rung out by the police, being first to say that there was abuse may have seemed like a dignified way to go about breaking the news. Since that airing of “Oprah” much of the above-of-the-fold fanfare has subsided. Because now, things have gotten a bit too sticky, no one wants to know why he didn’t leave because in light of the sexual abuse that has been aired, the only question that’s left to ask is: was the abuse somehow consensual? And no one wants ask that.
But according to many experts on the Stockholm syndrome, if there is a need for survival and a captor presents himself as the only means to that end, then eventually strange, and incredibly strong bonds will begin to form between captor and his victim. This delves far too deep into the reaches of the human mind and many media outlets simply don’t want to be weighed down with explaining why and how such a bizarre thing could happen. But according to mental-health-matters.com Stockholm syndrome can be as common as an abusive boyfriend or an addiction to cigarettes. Media avoiding of the topic (Oprah, I’m looking at you) leaves all of us to wonder and allow our imaginations to run away with ourselves. Not to mention the imaginations of the high school classmates the Hornbeck boy will be joining.
‘Why didn’t he run away?’ seems not so pressing a question as why hasn’t the media turned Stockholm syndrome into the next ADD?
Carrie Compton