> Stockholm syndrome?

It's more that the problem of cheating in online matchmade FPS games is just that bad. Even when you're not running into obvious cheaters, it makes you suspicious of anyone who happens to be a bit too quick on the draw, or a bit too intuitive, or a bit too lucky with a guess. That mindset overall makes a game much less fun to play.

So they accept the anticheat as a necessary evil, something mostly out of sight and out of mind.

I don't particularly agree with that approach but I see their point of view.