So by now I think we all know that Stockholm Syndrome is bunk science, right? Invented by a doctor who was covering his own arse to explain why the hostages in a bank robbery hated him, it has never been fully accepted as a real disease.

At best it’s correlation not equalling causation when some hostages empathise with their captors. At worst it’s evidence of the state’s failure to protect its citizens. If you didn’t know this already, you can read up on it more!

But we’re not talking about Stockholm Syndrome today. That fraud disease can go jump. We’re talking about the real disease known as Helsinki Syndrome.

Helsinki Syndrome first appeared in 1988, during the terrorist attack on the Nakatomi Plaza building. Proposed by Dr. Hasseldorf, author of Hostage Terrorist, Terrorist Hostage: A Study in Duality, it bears remarkable similarities to Stockholm Syndrome in that it describes hostages and their captors forming a bond.

Dr William Indiri, Dean of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and a leading expert on Xenopsychology was the next to bring this phenomenon to light when discussing the inferiority complex felt by veterans post-battle. Dr Indiri used Helsinki Syndrome as an analogy for what some were calling Minbari War Syndrome.

An FBI agent was recorded dismissing Helsinki Syndrome as the cause of his ‘sharing the delusions’ of a man who had taken him hostage at the VinylRight Telemarketing Offices. The hostage taker in that incident was killed when a Tactical Response Team breached the office to end the siege.

And finally a motoring journalist brought up Helsinki Syndrome when explaining how the Lamborghini Aventador didn’t try to kill him. Richard Hammond said he missed how older Lamboghinis felt less safe to drive—and so he evoked the now infamous syndrome to make his point about how the Aventador handled better.

Helsinki Syndrome might be its own thing, but its fate is tied to that of Stockholm Syndrome. And with Stockholm Syndrome, Helsinki Syndrome’s days might be similarly numbered.

For the good people of Helsinki, Sweden, however, let’s hope it lives on forever.

For more details on all of the above, you can watch Die Hard, Babylon 5 Season 4 Episode 8, The X-Files Season 5 Episode 19 and Top Gear, Season 17 Episode 6.

A writing update! Till The Heavens Burst comes out November 15, 2024. I picked that day because it’s when Halo launched, and things went really well for that franchise for a little while. Also it’s my twin brother‘s birthday and I want to one up him when we trade birthday well wishes. I’ll say happy birthday, and he’ll have to also say “congrats on the book launch”. And that’s what it’s really all about.

It has a great cover, it’s edited, it’s all but ready to go. I never did work out how to market the thing, so for now I’m doing the Deadlock thing where I don’t talk about it with anyone and I just hope things go ok. If you’d like to get a copy of it to review it, send me an email joabgilroy@gmail.com and I will hook you up. I’m safe in doing this because nobody reads these so I think it’ll be all good.

I’ve been watching a show called Guy Montgomery’s Guy Mont Spelling Bee and it’s the best thing I’ve seen in forever. Absolutely recommend watching it. It’s on ABC IView in Australia and TVNZ3 in New Zealand (I think?). If you’re not in those countries… I got nothing.

Anyway, big month coming up. See you then!