MI5 Agent Revels What To Do If You Are Taken Hostage

1. Stay calm and control your emotions

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If you find yourself in a hostage situation, it can be really really frightening.  And because of this, it can be extremely difficult to remain calm, especially if you feel incredibly threatened.  But it is important that you try to remain calm and try not to panic at any point.  You'll need to be able to think straight when the opportunity arises.

2. Observe your captors and gather as much information on them as possible

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It's also really important that you pay special attention to your captors.  In order to build a rapport with them, you'll need to find out as much information as you can about them.  This information will also be extremely useful if you need to make a statement once you're released to help officials capture the captors.

3. Try to establish a rapport with your captors to build trust and gain their confidence

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Once you have gathered sufficient information, it's also important that you make an attempt to build your captors' trust in you and make them believe that you're not going to make any decisions that will make life difficult for them.  It's also important that you gain their confidence because they might reveal important information to you.

4. Look for opportunities to escape

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You will need to make sure you are alert and constantly looking for opportunities to escape your hostage situation.  But it's equally important that you don't take any risks, panic, and/or raise your captors' suspicions.  This is because you need to make sure you are staying safe and keeping other possible hostages safe too, particularly if there is a threat of harm.

5. Create a plan

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If it is at all possible, it would be a good idea to come up with a plan to help you to escape the hostage situation without coming to any harm.  If there are other hostages, it would be a good idea to team up and come up with some ideas of what your plan could be.  But remember to not raise suspicions and stay discreet.

6. Follow any instructions or commands given to you by your captors

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You should make sure you are following any instructions or commands that have been given to you by your captors.  Use your judgment of the risks involved in carrying out or not carrying out any instructions or commands and try to maintain your dignity as best you can.

7. Stay hydrated and nourished, if possible

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You need to make sure you're remaining alert and engaged at all times with your surroundings.  You also need to ensure that you're keeping up your strength in case a situation arises where you would need the energy.  So if you can, make sure you stay hydrated with water and eat when you're able.

8. Keep your mind active and engaged

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And because you need to stay alert, it's also really important that you look after your mind as well.  Playing word games or keeping your mind active in some other way will be really useful so you're not drifting off and losing concentration.  Make sure you stay alert at all times.

9. Try to establish a routine

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If you're in a long hostage situation for many hours, days, or weeks, it can be easy for you to begin to feel like you're losing concentration and engagement.  So to pass the time, be sure to establish a routine if you can for yourself and those that are around you in the situation.

10. Keep yourself physically fit and mentally sharp

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You'll also want to make sure you're staying physically fit as well as mentally sharp.  We have already discussed ways you can keep your mind active and engaged but, if it is at all possible, try and stay active by doing bodyweight exercises.  You never know whether you need to use your physical fitness at any point.

11. Try to stay informed about the outside world

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Again, these pieces of advice mostly depend on whether these tasks are at all possible because there is a chance that certain things could be restricted.  But if you can, try to stay informed about what's going on outside by watching the news and keeping in touch with those on the outside.

12. Stay in touch with your loved ones if you can

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And if this is at all possible, it'll probably give you and your loved ones a lot of comfort if you can stay in touch with them and tell them that you're safe and unharmed.  You can also keep them updated on the hostage situation in order to keep them calm.  This might be quite unlikely but is worth mentioning in case it is a possibility.

13. Try to create a bond with your captors by finding common interests or shared experiences

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Once you have enough information about your captors, you might find that you have some common interests or shared experiences.  And if you do, this could be really useful because you might be able to build a bond with your captors and gain more of their trust.

14. Use humor and positive reinforcement to diffuse tense situations

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Stress levels will be inevitably high during a hostage situation, both for the captors and, of course, for the hostages.  This might be the very last thing that you feel like doing but using strategies like humor and positive reinforcement has the potential to diffuse really tense and stressful situations.  But be sure to use your own common sense and judgment because it won't always be appropriate.

15. Stay positive and don't lose hope

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It's really important, if you have any hope at all of escaping, that you don't lose that hope and you try to stay as positive as you can.  This will be not only important for your own well-being and mental strength but also for the other possible hostages around you.

16. Use meditation or other relaxation techniques to manage stress

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As we have established, any hostage situation is going to be incredibly stressful for all parties involved and especially for the hostages.  And in order to stay calm, it would be useful to attempt to use meditation or other breathing and relaxation techniques to help you to remain calm and to beat your stress and anxiety.

17. Try to build a sense of community with other hostages if possible

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You're going to need support in this extremely stressful and frightening experience and if there are other hostages, it's likely that you're going to have to work together at some point.  So be sure to make an attempt to build a sense of community and trust with those other hostages around you.

18. Memorize important contact information in case you're released or escape

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If you're released by your captors or manage to escape from this frightening ordeal, you're going to need some support.  So make sure you try to memorize any important contact information so you can contact someone for support and assistance.  You're likely to not have anything on you so it's important to try to remember these as best you can.

19. Keep a low profile

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During the hostage situation, you really shouldn't draw any unnecessary attention to yourself.  Apart from building trust and gaining confidence with your captors, you'll really want to keep your head down and keep a low profile throughout the situation.

20. Keep a journal to document your thoughts and experiences

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You may need to make a statement or retell your story at some point in the future so if it is at all possible, try to write down your thoughts and experiences.  These would also include any events that have taken place or things that have been said.  This is really risky though and might not be possible if you're in a tense hostage situation.

21. Stay alert and aware of your surroundings

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It's really important that you are alert to what's going on around you and that you're completely aware of your surroundings and the people that are in them.  You will need to try and find out what's going on at every point so you reduce the chance of anything unexpected happening.

22. Avoid taking any risks

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In the act of keeping a low profile, you must make sure that you avoid taking any unnecessary risks that could bring harm to yourself or those around you.  Remember to stay calm and quietly make a plan, but use your common sense and if anything seems too risky, don't do it.

23. Try to learn as much as you can about your captors' motivations

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You probably have lots of questions about why you are being held in a hostage situation.  So if you can, without taking any unnecessary risks, try to find out about your captors' motivations for holding you, hostage.  You might ask questions or you just might listen very carefully.  This could be very useful information.

24. Try to identify any weaknesses in your captors that you could exploit

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Your captors are human beings so they're inevitably going to have certain weaknesses that make them vulnerable in certain situations.  Observe and gather information on them and you might just find out what these might be.  And if you do, there might be a chance that you can exploit these vulnerabilities to your advantage.

25. Try to negotiate your release if you can

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If you are able to, and you've found out about your captors' motivations for holding you hostage, you might have gained enough of their trust to begin negotiating your release.  Again, make sure you use your better judgment and do not enter into any negotiation if it has risks.

26. Be prepared to adapt to changing circumstances and respond quickly to new developments

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There might be times when your captors need to move you because they're feeling threatened or need to get to a specific place.  So you will need to be prepared to adapt to changing circumstances and keep your self alert enough so you can adapt to new developments in the situation.

27. Try to maintain your dignity and self-respect

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This might be quite difficult but do make sure you use your common sense and better judgment if you find yourself in a hostage situation so that you can maintain your dignity and self-respect.  There might be times when you have to fulfill instructions and commands but think about the risks of completing or not completing them.

28. Stay focussed on your long-term goals

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Your long-term goals will be inevitable: to be released.  This is a given.  But it might be a long process and you might feel like you're losing your steam and energy to continue to stay alert and focused.  You do have an end game and you shouldn't let that slip.

29. Be patient and avoid making hasty decisions

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Again, if you panic and take risks, you might find yourself in harm's way.  So make sure you stay as patient as you can and avoid making any decisions too quickly if you get the opportunity.  You may get a little impatient but keep focused on your end goals and stick to your plan.

30. Above all, never give up hope and keep working on your freedom

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The most important thing is to make sure you do not lose any hope.  You must build a community within your hostage group and really try to keep everyone going.  You can feed off each other's energy and hope and keep working on getting your freedom back.  There will also be people on the outside working on your freedom so don't lose that hope.