For Euna Lee, certain moments of her return from months of confinement in North Korea in the summer of 2009 were marked by what she recalls as “utter joy.” The tearful reunion with her husband and 4-year-old daughter; savoring a meal at a favorite local restaurant in Los Angeles.

But as time went on, Ms. Lee said, she found herself overwhelmed by sadness and anxiety. Guilt-ridden over the time she had missed, she volunteered at her daughter’s elementary school as she resumed working as a journalist. Gratitude she felt for the work done to free her, she said, morphed into a sense of obligation to suppress any ill will toward others — even in minor interactions, like when someone cut in front of her in line at the grocery store.

“For a long time,” said Ms. Lee, who now works in Washington as an executive producer at Voice of America, “I felt like I was living someone else’s life.”

As the three American prisoners released by North Korea this week savored their freedom after many months in captivity, they joined a group of Americans, 16 in total, who have been detained and released by the regime since 1990, according to the State Department. Many — including Ms. Lee, who had been accused of illegally crossing into North Korea — had followed every development in the negotiations for the three hostages, and rejoiced at the news. Two of the newly released Americans, Tony Kim and Kim Hak-song, were accused by the regime of “hostile acts,” and the third, Kim Dong-chul, was accused of spying and had been sentenced to hard labor.