"He was a part of my life. For that reason, I mourn for him in a certain way," Natascha Kampusch said through a statement read by her psychiatrist at a press conference.
Her abductor Wolfgang Priklopil, 44, committed suicide after she fled last Wednesday.
He took her from a Vienna street in 1998 when she was just 10 years old and held in a basement for eight and a half years in the town of Strasshof, 25 kilometres northeast of Vienna.
She said she fled when he was distracted by a telephone call while she was vacuuming his car.
‘saved from a lot’
Ms Kampusch said that despite being shut off from the world, “I do not have the feeling that I missed something. I was saved from a lot, such as starting out smoking and drinking and having false friends."
"I have become a young woman with an interest in culture and an awareness of human needs," the 18 year old said but admitted that her daily life in captivity was filled with "anguish due to my solitude".
In her statement, the young woman asked the media to leave her alone, adding that she would never answer questions about her private life with Priklopil, though she did give details of life with the kidnapper, saying they had breakfast together and that she had done housework.
The statement also clarified media reports suggesting she called him “master”.
"He was not my master. I was as strong as he was. Speaking symbolically, he brought me everything, while still oppressing me. But he did not know that he had chosen the wrong person."
But she did not go into more personal detail and did not confirm or deny media reports that she may have had voluntary sexual relations with Priklopil, warning "I do not want to and will not answer any questions about intimate or personal details. I will take action against anyone who crosses this line, voyeuristically or otherwise. Whoever tries that should watch out."
She also insisted that Priklopil acted alone, despite an eyewitness claiming to have seen a second kidnapper.
Very traumatised
Her psychiatrist Max Friedrich told reporters that Ms Kampusch was "from a psychological point of view very traumatiseand victimized by a serious crime."
She is for the moment refusing to see her parents, instead talking to them on the phone. Her mother, Brigitta Sirny, has made a personal plea to see her daughter, who is under the protection of police.
But Austrian police officer Gerhard Lang stressed to news agency AFP that "the police are not banning contact with Natascha. Natascha is an adult, 18 and a half years old. She is fully capable of making decisions for herself."
And in her statement, Ms Kampusch’s says she is being looked after, "Many people are taking care of me," she said, naming juvenile attorney Monika Pinterits and two psychiatrists, including Mr Friedrich.
Psychiatrists have speculated that Ms Kampusch is suffering from "Stockholm Syndrome," a condition in which captives develop a positive relationship with their captors over time.
Police were continuing to comb Priklopil's house and did not rule out the existence of more hidden rooms.