Approved :,glA-RDP96-00788ROO2100450003-8 "gas Hosta5v.; 'Joy Over Freedom May,Hide Deeper Damage; Psychologists Warn By Donla Mills Washtneon-Star Staff Write An elated nation that watched the American s'smiling, waving flight to = should not turn Off its concern along,wJth the tele- vision set, expert& on the psychology- of.captivity warm. They look so happy - that's the sadness of it," says Charles Stenger, director. of services for American -Ex-Prisoners of War, an organiza- tion of some- 94,000. "They've sur-. vived, but it's left its mark.". The big danger now for hostages, families and public alike, said Stan- ger, a 58-year-old Bethesda psycbot- ogist who was captured by Germans In the 1944 Battle of the Bulge, 'is In wanting. to pretend it's all over, it's 611 behind them. , 'The thing to look out for now is what we refer to as the 'second Injury'- the damage that can result later from the' failure of people to understand and respond'to the resid- ual effects of the captive's exper- ience." Psychologists. agree that the outward appearances of exuberance expressed by the freed Americans during their stopover in Algeria and their arrival in Germany may belie the deeper psychic damage suffered during their 15 months of,intern- ment. "All of them looked sad to me," said Staff Sgt. James Hughes, one of 13 hostages freed soon after mili- tants took over the US. Embassy, "They had that sadness in their eyes", . Even in these brief televised glimpse's, the trained eyes of medical authorities could detect subtler symptoms of problems to come. - "I was struck by a remark made by one of the Algerian pilots," one psychologist said. "He described the hostages as being 'like trained ani- mals.' And indeed It did seem odd, the way they did what they were told, they didn't get out of line, how totally docile and manageable they were despite their Joy." Dr. Margaret Singer, a Berkeley, Calif., psychologist who has done extensive "de-programming" work with POWs and cult victims, said some ofthe hostages"looked awfully geared down" - a psychological term, she explained, used to describe thq way victims in life-threatening situations deliberately reduce their level of feeling in order to cope with stress,' I thought the young men, particU- larly, looked more subdued than the gray-bearded ones in their 40s and 50s," said Singer, who was a court- appointed examiner of Patricia Hearst during her trial on bank rob- 'bery charges with members of the Symbionese Liberation Army. - 'I think a key fact here is that the captors were males about the same age as the younger captives, which may have niade- them victims of particularly sadistic treatment. They (the Iranians) were probably doing a macho. number'on~tbem, and dealln~ badly with the Ixomen. as well, because of that whole middle-Eastern attitude toward,.fe. males." Others suggeste.d that the seasoned veterans of dlplomatic~an4 military service had tagre disci. pline, stressful expetience and in- stituttonal and family bonds- to, bolster them than the younger Cap- tives. "Ithelpsyou hangon to Your sense of self-esteem If you can find any roles to make you feel worthwhile,* said Stenger in recalling his own captivity. "I was a medic. - I was busy all the time.* ' But despite the anticipated read- justment period, authorities stress that the professional training and dedication of the hostages - most of whom volunteered for the'post with the um!erstanding that risks might be involved - will bring them through the ordeal with better- than-average results. "These are 52 educated, well- functioning, superior people,* Singer pointed out. 'They're going to do a lot better than, say, 52 citizens you picked up at random one day out of the supermarket. ., In their first phone calls to rel- atives back in the U.S. yesterday, some of the hostages made it clear that they had been psychologically, if not physically, abused by their Iranian captors. , John Limbert told his father thaf he spent nine months out of the 14 In solitary conlinement, and others complained of being isolated from their colleagues, tied up at night, denied even bathroom privileges without asking permission, And hav- ing mail heavily censored. And the family of Malcolm Kalp in Brockton, Mass., strid they learned, today that the reason nobody back home heard from him dutillig the 444 days of captivity was that he tried to escape several times and was punished. . I I "He told as he was beaten.by them and placed In solitary confinement because of his escape attempts," said Kalp's sister-in-law, Linda Ka)p. _' The -returning hostages are on cloud nine" right now, warns Dr. Edna J. Hunter, another California psychologist who has done consid. erable study on POW readjustment problems."'But I k1o think after this initial euphoria there are tremen- 4ous readjustments to be ma0e. 'It will take three or four weeks before the letdown comes, allb .ough I have a hunch that none of them Ior their families - believe right now that there will be any prob- lems." Stenger said that the combination of extreme danger and total help- lessness,often leaves hostages with a feeling of anxiety and vulnerabil- ity similar lo that of Tape victims. I "When you go through a long pe- riod of time totally at the mercy of someone who Is hostile or at best indifferent to your existence and when you can't do a damn thing to protect yourselfjt,has a disastrous effect,' he_said. *11's,much worse than bein)g in combat, where at least you, can -fin', or pickup a gun and ;hoot baCk' I Stenger, .who also serves as Vet- erans Administration Coordinator for POW affairs, said studies of 94.000 surviving American POWs shows that the formerprisoners: suffer eight to 10 times the lingering anxi- ely,problems of normal Combat vet. e.rans. . "This doesn't mean that they'ri oing to r6 around and act crazy," ge added. "But such intense stress over such a long period of time manifests itself in unpredictable ways at unpredictable times. When you've lived for 15 months with the gaspedal all the way to the floor, it's certainly not going to do your motor any good." Dr. Demetrios A. Julius, chief of psychiatric services at the Veterans Administration Center in Rich- mond, predicts the hostages will ex- perience a surfacing of "real rage" after the Initial sense of euphoria has passed. 'I think they'll feel a sense of deep loss over a part of their lives they can nIever regain,' he said. -Whenit sinks In that the agreement specifies they can't file suits against Iran, that they can never be com- pensated even in this material way for what they've suffered, I think it will make some of them very, very angry,, Julius, who served as a counselor foi Americans in Iran from 1977 un- til his flight out in January 1979, said that watching the plane land in Algiers "brought it all back, that sickly feeling of remembering how threatened we felt, the taunts and thepipe boiinbs~ the fear of not get- ting -but In time. *1 hope we don't forget these peo- ple six months down the road,' he added. 'I think we've just seen the ti' -1 the iceburg.' Approved For Release 2000/08/08 : CIA-RDP96-00788ROO2100450003-8 STAFF SGT. JAMES HUGHES Returnees looked sad, he says