FIVE STAGES OF HOSTAGE POST-EPISODIC REACTION TO CAPTIVITY
NORMAL RESPONSE PATHOLOGICAL RESPONSE
Stage I
Outcry - anger, rage, sadness Overwhelmed - panic, fear,
hysteria
Stage II
Denial - cannot have happened Extreme Avoidance - drugs,
alcohol use, mental blocking
Stage III
Intrusion - voluntary thoughts Flooded Status - nightmares,
of the event repeated disturbing thoughts
of the event
Stage IV
Working Through - face the Psychosomatic Responses - new
reality of the situation and ailments arise, inability to
the verity of continuation of cope with day to day tasks
life
Stage V
Completion - move on with life, Character Distortions - long
closure term distortions of character
and core personality
drawn from James Poland, Understanding Terrorism, Englewood
Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, l988, p. 140-141.