Numerous conditions resembling Resignation Syndrome have been reported before - among Nazi concentration camp inmates, for example. "Maybe the new baby when it comes will help," says Sophie's father. Pr Segerdahl is the editor of the Ethics Blog and Associate Professor of Philosophy at the Centre for Research Ethics & Bioethics (CRB). - Etikbloggen, Betydelsen av det akademiska seminariet - Etikbloggen, Etiska utmaningar nr barn med cancer rekryteras till forskning - Etikbloggen, Vetenskap, forskningskommunikation och ordens betydelse - Etikbloggen, Human Brain Project, Neuroethics and Philosophy. We see apathetic refugee children as symbols of our own moral failure to treat them and their families The reference to Snow White is apt, because there is a fairytale-like quality to the documentary, evoking ancient tales of children menaced by dark, mysterious forces. Treatment of severe withdrawal is urgent, and can only be undertaken in a hospital setting with specialist paediatric teams and capacity for nutritional support, intravenous rehydration and monitoring of kidney and other bodily functions. But if I understand Sallin correctly, he thinks that the spread of symptom descriptions through mass media, and the ongoing practice of treating children with resignation syndrome, might be essential in this context. She is just waiting for the situation to be better.. Whats more, beyond the trauma experienced back home, these refugee children also face the trauma of the journey [and] the trauma of detention at some point, the bucket is full. Making the Oscar shortlist has left Haptas and Samuelson with a feeling of gratitude. Unique to this syndrome is that there have been no reported cases outside of Sweden. In many cases, refugee mothers (and occasionally fathers) have been subject to traumatizing experiences such as rape or physical abuse, motivating them to sever their ties to their home state and flee to another country. Last modified March 27, 2017. As Elizabeth Hultcrantz, a doctor who has treated those with Resignation Syndrome, told The New Yorker: I think it is a form of protection, this coma they are in. Children Is Now Being Seen In Australias Offshore Detention Camps. BuzzFeed. The UNHR says that there are around 24.5 million refugees and 3.1 asylum-seekers worldwide in 2019, displaced from their homes by war, disaster or persecution. Is it possible that those cases of resignation syndrome occurred after knowledge of the film Life Overtakes Me and the condition of resignation syndrome were learned by those affected refugee families in CT? You read that right: in Sweden, not in other countries. And there have also been cases of siblings where first one develops it and then the other. In light of these weaknesses, the mental hypothesis arguably is not a compelling explanation for why Resignation Syndrome exists. Her mother had been raped in the woods of Siberia but hadnt told her children. Secondary symptoms may also appear such as weight gain, viral infections, skin sores, and muscular deterioration. Sweden Was Among the Best Countries for Immigrants. Nunn, Kenneth P., Bryan Lask, Isabel Owen, and Gran Bodegrd. Swedens Mystery Illness: Resignation Syndrome Is climate change killing Australian wine? So somehow - and we do not know the mechanism for this, and why it should happen in Sweden - the kind of symptoms displayed by the children are culturally sanctioned: this is a way the children are allowed to express their trauma. These Are the Toughest Places for Asylum Seekers to Enter Europe. Telegraph.co.uk. Nonetheless, as a consequence of this uncertainty in applying for residency again, the perceived danger of going back to his place of trauma was psychologically something Karen could not handle. Even if they did have the economic capital, these refugee families are frequently in life-threatening circumstances; therefore, they do not have time to provide their child with this treatment. Accordingly, further treatment would be necessary as a consequence of this added stress. Pervasive loss of function in asylum-seeking children in Sweden.. On arrival, they were held for hours by Swedish police. "They took me away and then I don't remember anything," he says. [12] This witnessing of violence alongside various other threats made against the family compelled them to flee and seek refuge in Sweden. Now to Sallins hypothesis in the article. While many hypotheses have been presented, there is no definitive answer to why Resignation Syndrome does not exist outside of Sweden. We want to hear from you! Karen had found security in Sweden, making friends and moving on from the trauma he experienced back in Ukraine. When I explain to the parents what has happened, I tell them the world has been so terrible that Sophie has gone into herself and disconnected the conscious part of her brain. In 1958, the But offering treatment also causes new cases. [4], Acknowledging its social importance and relevance, the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare recognized the novel diagnostic entity resignation syndrome in 2014. Such traumas may include rape of a family member, physical abuse, threats to the familys livelihood, or the witnessing of other forms of violence. Last modified August 3, 2018. Required fields are marked *. To Dasha, this profound change in the reality of their situation was accepted as a truth only when her mother, sensing greater security in her life, was able to move past her trauma and overcome her hopelessness. This period is marked by a painful period of hopelessness, helplessness and indeterminate time perspective as an asylum-seeker in a foreign country. A book - The Way Back - has recently been published about Solsidan, but its work is not well-known. Free resources to assist you with your university studies! The introduced diagnosis, resignation syndrome, is therefore inappropriate. [10], It has also been observed in refugee children transferred from Australia to the Nauru Regional Processing Centre. [5] At first, these affected children withdraw from social activities and slowly draw into themselves. He initially adjusted well after resettlement in Sweden, but then, like Daria, he too fell into a catatonic state and now must be nourished through a feeding tube Resignation syndrome is a strange disorder thats been occurring in Sweden for decades in the child and adolescent refugee population. Some of the Nauru children were very unwell with complications of coma." In an Anne Sexton poem I came across the word overtakes. Of course, none of the other words in our title were there, but that word seemed to capture something special. Resignation syndrome, called uppgivenhetssyndrom in Swedish, is an illness that causes people to shut down. But Sophie's eyes are closed. Socialstyrelsen B. https://www.crb.uu.se/personal/karl-sallin/ With support from the Human Brain Project, Neuroethics and Philosophy. But why does this only seem to occur in Sweden? We are dealing with a known diagnosis: catatonia, which is characterized by the same Feeding tubes help sustain the life of the child, but it does not serve as a medical treatment. Questions are now being asked about the possible development of an increase in cases on Nauru and how best to respond to this. Read more: Whilst the exact causes of Resignation Syndrome remain an enigma, it is generally thought to be brought on by a severe lack of hope and intense stress, fuelled by extremely distressing asylum processes, previous traumatic events, and social exclusion. Accordingly, many asylum-seeking families and individuals fled to Sweden under the impression that they had a high chance of being granted asylum and correspondingly, a secure future living condition. It is also important to reiterate that there is incredible stress imbued within the immigration process as well. The others recovered before their asylum status was assured. When children witness violence or threats against a parent, their most significant connection in the world is ripped apart, the carers at Solsidan believe. Therefore, if a child is faced with the uncertainty of being deported back to the place of their suppressed trauma, then that trauma has the possibility of resurfacing. Children with resignation syndrome assessed and cared for by CAMHS had similar need of outpatient care as other children of the same origin who had been treated Some experts think that children with resignation syndrome in Sweden and Australia are using the cultural cues around them to express their psychological distress, in the only way they know how. Karen, meanwhile, a 12-year-old boy seen in Life Overtakes Me, was nearly killed in an ambush that targeted his father. Moreover, in certain circumstances, parents may not take notice of the trauma experienced by the child if they are still in shock or if they deny having experienced the trauma in the first place. WebIn English, this became resignation syndrome. [4] Swedens Mystery Illness: Resignation Syndrome, Doctors of the World, last modified February 20, 2018, https://doctorsoftheworld.org/blog/swedens-mystery-illness-resignation-syndrome/. Finally, refugee children who: exhibit psychological instability, have a history of mental health such as depression, and have overly sensitive personalities, run the greatest risk of falling ill. Resignation syndrome is a rare psychiatric condition that presents as a progressive social withdrawal and reluctance to engage in usual activities such as school and play. According to reports, the mystery illness was first seen in Sweden in the 1990s - but grew rapidly by the mid-2000s. Read more: It is important to highlight that these are simply theoretical hypotheses, as there is not enough research on Resignation Syndrome to garner a definitive answer. [15] In March 2020, a report citing the Swedish Agency for Medical and Social Evaluation, SBU, said "There are no scientific studies that answer how to diagnose abandonment syndrome, nor what treatment works".[16]. He stopped talking, eating, and walking; soon after that he became diagnosed with Resignation Syndrome. In his home country of Ukraine, Karen witnessed the shooting and subsequent murder of a family friend, a situation in which he and his father barely escaped. Registered office: Creative Tower, Fujairah, PO Box 4422, UAE. The Swedish Affliction: Resignation Syndrome In 2006, a government-commissioned report on the condition in Sweden found that it was "a culture-bound syndrome, a psychological illness endemic to a specific society," according to a report in The New Yorker in 2017. Is anyone researching this phenomenon? After the family was granted residency the boy recovered. More precisely, no medicine can help the child regain both his or her motor functions and livelihood. The problem is again: traumatized refugee families exist all around the world. Your email address will not be published. She cried, shouted "Please go and find my dad! Culture-Bound?, Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 10 (2016): doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2016.00007. Until recently, Sweden was known for its generous immigration laws and in particular, its lenient asylum granting policies. A transparent feeding tube runs into Sophie's nose - this is how she has been nourished for the past 20 months. "In some way the child will have to sense that there's hope, something to live for That's the only way I can explain why having the right to stay would, in all the cases I've seen so far, change the situation.". Eventually they recover. WebHave you heard of Resignation Syndrome? Swedish doctor, Gran Bodegrd describes the children as passive, immobile, withdrawn, mute, incontinent, and not reacting to physical stimuli or pain.[6]. [13] The family is stilling awaiting news of whether their residency was granted and Karen has remained unresponsive for 14 months. Some are traumatised by experiences in their countries of origin and the process of fleeing. Various names have been used to describe this condition since it was originally described in children showing a retreat from external reality. We are dealing with a known diagnosis: catatonia, which is characterized by the same loss of motor skills. [14] The mother and/or father, unable to cope, are believed to project their trauma onto their child, who has often either directly witnessed or heard about the abuse suffered by either parent. If you want to think more about this puzzling question, I recommended a new article in Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, with Karl Sallin (PhD student at CRB) as first author. It is up to the parents to transmit this sense of hope as the afflicted children are dependent upon rebuilding security in their lives. Resignation syndrome (also called traumatic withdrawal syndrome or traumatic refusal or abandonment syndrome; Swedish: uppgivenhetssyndrom) is a catatonic condition that induces a state of reduced consciousness, first described in Sweden in the 1990s. [16] In doing so, the mothers sense of hopelessness is no longer projected upon Dasha, thereby, reawakening [her] lust for life.[17]. It did feel otherworldly and mythological in this very fundamental and strange way, Samuelson comments. This explanation may also seem reasonable, especially considering another peculiarity of the syndrome: it does not affect unaccompanied refugee children, only children who arrive with their families. Resignation syndrome - Wikipedia The catatonia hypothesis can be tested, Sallin suggests, by trying treatments with known responses in catatonic patients, and by performing PET scans of the brain. Doctor Hultcrantz knows that the children can be healthy again, they are not damaged for life if you take care of them. Resignation syndrome appears to be a very specialized response to the trauma of refugee limbo, in which families, many of whom have escaped dangerous circumstances in their home countries, wait to be granted legal permission to stay in their new country, often undergoing numerous refusals and appeals over a period of years. Resignation Syndrome in Children Theres another important piece to the medical puzzle. I think it is a form of protection, this coma they are in," she told Doctors Of The World. Those who experience it enter a coma-like state of apathy, not eating, speaking or interacting with those around them. Write an article and join a growing community of more than 163,400 academics and researchers from 4,609 institutions. The mystery remains. Learn how your comment data is processed. [18] In light of this influx of immigrants, anti-immigrant sentiments began to grow in Sweden, causing the Swedish government to institute border controls. Resignation Syndrome He initially adjusted well after resettlement in While theyre there, Swedens taking care of themtheyre housed, they have medical care. It would mean a lot to families in our film, for families in general in that situation and hopefully to refugees facing trauma in other places to have the issue foregrounded, Haptas states. Their days are punctuated by Sophie's regime - exercises to stop her muscles wasting, attempts to engage her with music and cartoons, walks outside in a wheelchair, feeding and changing. Similar behaviors were also observed during the Holocaust; in his Frontiers article, Karl Sallin describes the phenomenon of the "muselmann" in Nazi concentration camps, in which people without hope began refusing food and entered a catatonic state. Get our latest storiesin the feed of your favorite networks. The sever culmination of resignation syndrome is when sufferers enter into a comatose state in order to escape their intolerable reality. The affected children all come from refugee families that have fled to Sweden after experiencing persecution of some kind. Resignation syndrome is a rare psychiatric condition that presents as a progressive social withdrawal and reluctance to engage in usual activities such as school Nonetheless, unique to this illness is the fact that all reported case has been within the national boundaries of Sweden. Making the film, she says, became a very important way to be showing and thinking about the crisis these kids are in, the physical and mental crisis that theyre in emotionally when they are faced with this horrifying trauma.. Kristine Samuelson & John Haptas Recount the Horror Last modified September 27, 2018. https://www.buzzfeed.com/lanesainty/refugee-children-resignation-syndrome-sweden-australia. Barn Med Uppgivenhetssyndrom. To be more specific, before their immediate showing of symptoms, many of these adolescents had begun their assimilation into the Swedish culture and had sufficient fluency in the language. Recovery ensues within months to years and is claimed to be dependent on the restoration of hope to the family. However, there is arguably a lack of research on how forced immigration and previous trauma can specifically impact the health of refugee children. The drama of the war, the uprooting and forced migration from their country of origin under conditions of very high risk, joined to failure to insert in a new context, it represents a traumatic event very powerful. WebThe symptoms of Resignation Syndrome are similar to those suffering from Catatonia, a behavioral syndrome that involves a lack of proper movement and speech. [9] In Sweden, hundreds of migrant children, facing the possibility of deportation, have been diagnosed since the 1990s.