Journal #3

I think that the main emotion I would feel if I got held hostage is fear. All consuming fear. I'd be frightened and terrified, and i'd probably miss my family terribly. It would be super hard to cope with something like that, especially in today's world. Most hostages end up dead anyway because the kidnapper gets tired of taking care of them, or is a psychopath and is out of their mind. I guess it would depend on who the kidnapper was. If it was someone really mean and violent it would be even harder to cope with the situation. But if they were more civil and I could see that they were in a terrible jam that drove them to something as severe as a kidnapping, I would feel more pity than fear probably....but that still doesn't compensate for the fact that the person was holding me against my will. I'd do my best not to show weakness, and maybe even try to negotiate with the person. Most people who take hostages do it because they are scared and frightened and don't want to get hurt or get in trouble. They do it because they sometimes don't know what else to do. Sometimes they need money or have a family problem that drives them to do drastic things. I would try to negotiate with them, and try to make them see that doing what they are doing isn't right.  The biggest coping mechanism I would use is probably prayer. I'm a  religious person, and i'd use prayer to help me stay strong in my situation. I'd also hope that someone would save me. That would be a seriously driving goal that would keep me going. I might even plan an escape, and that would also help me cope because i'd feel like I had something under my sleeve 'just in case' , and i'd plan it very carefully and wait for the right moment to do it.  I'd also use my own inner thoughts to keep me going. I'd think of my family and remember the good times. I most likely though, out of all the coping mechanisms, would use hope to keep me going. I'd just keep hoping that someone would come help me, or come get me out of my situation.