DEAR ABBY: I survived 17 years of abuse. I'm slowly healing and now in a healthy relationship I enjoy. My ex did what most abusers do in these situations: He isolated me from my family. He would force me to say mean things to my sisters and parents to keep them away and make them hate me.
Now that I'm out of that situation, I want a relationship with them again. Sadly, my sisters say I must apologize for my behavior (again), which I'm not comfortable doing. I did apologize once, but it wasn't good enough for them, since I stated that I was sorry he made me do those things. What should I do? -- GETTING PAST IT IN KANSAS
DEAR GETTING PAST: I'm not sure why your sisters are insisting you apologize again, but if I were you, I would do it to try to smooth things over. At that time I would explain to them about Stockholm syndrome, which sometimes happens when people are kidnapped, held prisoner and eventually begin to identify with their captors. Something similar may have happened between you and your abuser because, in a sense, you were being held hostage.