Freed Hostages Face Family Challenges

July 7, 2008— -- They were gone for so many years. Now, the relatives of 15 hostages rescued in an undercover mission by the Colombian National Army are facing the great unknown of reintegrating into their families.

Columbian-French citizen Ingrid Betancourt was the first to reunite with her children. Three American hostages -- Marc Gonsalves, Thomas Howes and Keith Stansell -- returned to American soil Wednesday night and spent the holiday weekend recuperating and transitioning back into the lives they once knew.

Psychiatrists say how well these reunions go often depends on a complex combination of circumstances: the ex-hostage's personal history, the age of the family members when they separated, and what exactly happened during the years they were held hostage.

"People can have a honeymoon effect after a reunion and then problems can develop," said Dr. Spencer Eth, medical director of St. Vincent's Hospital in Manhattan and a professor of psychiatry at New York Medical College.

"Some families heal very well, others break apart," he said. "So much depends on the age and maturity of the spouse and the nature of the relationship before the separation."

If the family was stable with a lot of outside support, the family will often deal better during the absence, said Eth. However if either the parent or the children feel isolated and become depressed, it will have a reciprocal effect on the other family members.

Family members sometimes idealize the missing person.

"Frequently the parent who's missing becomes idealized and that becomes an organizing principle," said Eth. "If things go bad, it's because Dad isn't here to take care of us, or I'm going to do very well so Dad will be proud of me when he gets back."

The disappointment after the real parent returns can be a little damaging: "They may think, 'We've waited for Daddy for so long and now look at him. This is what we've been waiting for?'"

Unlike military deployment or work time apart, a hostage situation carries an extra burden of uncertainty. Children or spouses might go through anticipatory mourning as if the parent is already dead and begin to let go, said Eth.