The Netflix documentary, Life Overtakes Me, follows the narrative of three refugee children suffering from Resignation Syndrome. 2023 BBC. 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. (2013). Swedish doctor, Gran Bodegrd describes the children as passive, immobile, withdrawn, mute, incontinent, and not reacting to physical stimuli or pain.[6]. Highly recommended news interview with Dr Hultcrantz: Resignation Syndrome: Almost 20 years, Sweden has been battling a mysterious illness. Experts have proposed multifactorial explanatory models involving individual vulnerability, traumatization, migration, culturally conditioned reaction patterns and parental dysfunction or pathological adaption to a caregiver's expectations to interplay in pathogenesis. Unlike Sophie, the children affected have often been living in Sweden for years, speak the language and are well-adjusted to their new, Nordic lives. [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]. Dagson shares the view commonly held among doctors treating children with Resignation Syndrome, that recovery depends on them feeling secure and that it is a permanent residence permit that kick-starts that process. Theres serious concern about the use of Nauru as a processing centre and the adequacy of health services. 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. Could it be that spreading awareness of this phenomenon is actually causing more cases and doing more harm than good? He stopped talking, eating, and walking; soon after that he became diagnosed with Resignation Syndrome. As a society, we need to further study this bizarre illness and more generally, we need to research the trauma both directly and indirectly faced by refugee children. For nearly two decades Sweden has been battling a mysterious illness. They do not simulate total lack of willpower; like inability to eat, speak and move. 3 (2013): xx, doi:10.1007/s00787-013-0433-7. Nonetheless, unique to this illness is the fact that all reported case has been within the national boundaries of Sweden. Write an article and join a growing community of more than 163,400 academics and researchers from 4,609 institutions. [4], Acknowledging its social importance and relevance, the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare recognized the novel diagnostic entity resignation syndrome in 2014. Youre Not Alone, How To Stretch Your Hands, According To Physical Therapists, Trainers Say Walking 8,000 Steps A Day Is Just Fine, TYVM, Get Even More From Bustle Sign Up For The Newsletter. Inpportunly, Dasha heard the story of her mothers rape when the asylum-seeking family had an interview with the Swedish Immigration Center. But the child does not stir. The families of children with Resignation Syndrome share something else in commona constant anxiety driven by the uncertainty of whether they will be allowed to stay in Sweden. These contributing factors include, but are not limited to 1) the immense amount of stress placed on refugee children, 2) an ensuing lack of proper mental health treatment for the stress the child is under as well as the past trauma he or she has experienced, and 3) a psychodynamic hypothesis in which the migrant mother (or even father), often the subject of physical abuse or sexual assault, projects his or her trauma onto the child, who subsequently adopts this trauma as its own. Asylum-seeking refugees often suffer from psychological or physical trauma that compels them to flee from their homes, cross national boundaries, and relocate to a more secure state. In comparison, countries like Greece, Hungary, and Romania have always been known to have stricter immigration laws; therefore, refugees fleeing to those countries are aware that the chances of their asylum being granted is less. However, the currently prevailing stress hypothesis fails to account for the regional distribution (see Epidemiology) and contributes little to treatment. The condition has come to be known as Resignation Syndrome. This essay argues that Sweden, a country known previously for its generous immigration laws, has recently become stricter, including a greater rate of denying asylum to asylum seekers. By subscribing to this BDG newsletter, you agree to our. Sophie's family have the latter, and it expires in March next year. None of those stories were proven. The hypothesis is that life-threatening catatonia in refugee children is caused psychologically, in a certain cultural environment. [1][6], Currently, diagnostic criteria are undetermined, pathogenesis is uncertain, and effective treatment is lacking.[1]. 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. It remains the case that children from particular geographical and ethnic groups are the most vulnerable: those from the former USSR, the Balkans, Roma children, and most recently the Yazidi. "I can't say it's not possible, but it all depends how the parents sense this - are we going to stay after these 13 months? VideoThe secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure, LGBT troops take love for Eurovision to front line, Why an Indian comedian is challenging fake news rules. Helping children with resignation syndrome, she says, "can take up to 12 months. Sophie's mother took her to a friend's home. Is anyone researching this phenomenon? The condition affects predominately psychologically traumatized children and adolescents in the midst of a strenuous and lengthy migration process. By all accounts, these children are genuinely ill. An ENT surgeon before she retired, Hultcrantz is worried because Sophie does not ever open her mouth. Notwithstanding, the family was granted a temporary thirteen-month residency in Sweden and Karen began improving, assimilating in the Swedish school system and learning the language. Here Sallin hits on the main obstacle to understanding Resignation Syndrome - the lack of research into it. In Norway, when a few cases popped up, they separated affected children from parents and avoided feeding tubes, and the children were cured within weeks. Accordingly, this hypothesis may, in circumstances when the child has not personally experienced the trauma, explain why Resignation Systems occurs. For nearly two decades Sweden has been battling a mysterious illness. These Are the Toughest Places for Asylum Seekers to Enter Europe. Telegraph.co.uk. From hair trends to relationship advice, our daily newsletter has everything you need to sound like a person whos on TikTok, even if you arent. The little girl was very upset. There was something so insane about what we were seeing. Resignation syndrome is a rare psychiatric condition that presents as a progressive social withdrawal and reluctance to engage in usual activities such as school "After a couple of days, I noticed she wasn't playing as much as she used to with her sister," says Sophie's mother, who is expecting a new baby next month. In other words, the child identifies with his or her parents loss of hope, and internalizes their trauma, slowly withdrawing from the world. Of the 35 children Calshamre has met over the years, one of them got permission to stay in Sweden while still at Solsidan. Theres another important piece to the medical puzzle. Learn how your comment data is processed. The National Justice Project, a legal centre, has brought 35 children from Nauru this year. [8] Life Overtakes Me, directed by Kristine Samuelson. Of that number, UNICEF estimates that around 46% are children. It was only until her family was granted Swedish residency did Dasha finally recover after 8 months of being unresponsive. Last modified February 5, 2016. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/12140900/These-are-the-toughest-places-for-asylum-seekers-to-enter-Europe.html. In contrast, her hair is thick and shiny - like a healthy child's. [18] In light of this influx of immigrants, anti-immigrant sentiments began to grow in Sweden, causing the Swedish government to institute border controls. The introduced diagnosis, resignation syndrome, is therefore inappropriate. https://www.crb.uu.se/personal/karl-sallin/ The secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure. 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. Recovery ensues within months to years and is claimed to be dependent on the restoration of hope to the family. According to Karl Sallin, it could be a copycat phenomenon. WebIn English, this became resignation syndrome. If you've never heard of resignation syndrome, you're not alone. The Netflix documentary Life Overtakes Me, directed by the husband-and-wife filmmaking team of Haptas and Kristine Samuelson, explores this baffling scenario. Some experience separation from important attachment figures. Kristine Samuelson & John Haptas Recount the Horror of Resignation Syndrome for Life Overtakes Me by Joey Moser January 31, 2020 in Documentary, Do you have a 2:1 degree or higher? A refugee child might suppress these experiences but such trauma stays with them and so, they seek out security in countries like Sweden. Common features are the ongoing nature of the trauma and the childs feelings of hopelessness and helplessness in the face of inescapable stress. No plagiarism, guaranteed! They arrived in December 2015 and live in accommodation allocated to refugees in a small town in central Sweden. Nevertheless, this theory fails to account for the fact that usually, these families lack the economic capital to gain access to these treatments for their children. It is only when they receive the notice that their request for asylum has been denied or they receive a warning of imminent deportation do they begin to display symptoms of Resignation Syndrome. 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. The thing we found out is that if you talk to eight experts, you get 10 opinions, notes filmmaker John Haptas. "But she has a high pulse rate, so maybe she's reacting to so many people coming to visit her today.". Many refugee childrens parents, who have fled to countries other than Sweden, have also faced similar trauma and have subsequently projected this sense of hopelessness onto their sons or daughters. In line with this narrative, a report published in the Asylum Seeker Resource Center (ASRC) stated that these children cannot recover from [their home country] because [their home country] is the cause of their trauma. Typically, the previously afflicted child will have no recollection of falling into this coma-like state and it takes a couple of months for the childs livelihood to be restored. Professor Newman tells Bustle that the issue of asylum-seekers in Australia has been "highly politicized," and there have been "accusations that the condition is merely attention-seeking or manipulation. It is important to highlight that this change in atmosphere, greater security, and positive news was transmitted to Dasha by her mother. Yet, there have been no reported cases outside of Sweden despite other refugee children also facing enormous amounts of stress. In other words, this culturally-based hypothesis has enough credible support to suggest it plays both a contributing factor for the condition and explain why the illness exists only in the Swedish state. They are like Snow White. Depression in parents further isolates vulnerable children. This refugee childs traumatic resurface risks transforming into Resignation Syndrome. Resignation Syndrome in Hidden Tears and Silences. SAGE Journals. So the idea of referencing a fairytale and referencing Snow White really worked. It documents what is known about the syndrome and suggests a new hypothesis. 12 (2005): 347, doi:10.1080/08035250510036778. The trauma of the migrant journey is another unavoidable stress factor for refugee children. Called Resignation Syndrome, it affects only the children of asylum-seekers, who Soon afterwards, the family was informed they could not stay in Sweden. In the early stages of the Syndrome, there was a lot of public speculation regarding the childrens condition. Subscribe to Deadline Breaking News Alerts and keep your inbox happy. [9] In Sweden, hundreds of migrant children, facing the possibility of deportation, have been diagnosed since the 1990s. Resignation syndrome is an almost-entirely mysterious condition that had never been diagnosed until the 1990s, and is not officially recognized anywhere outside of Sweden. Reports from Nauru are raising concerns about an outbreak of a severe trauma-related mental disorder known as traumatic withdrawal syndrome, or resignation syndrome. The child, who experiences the mother as its only safety, adapts unconsciously and exhibits the symptoms that the mother treats the child as if it had. 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. Until recently, Sweden was known for its generous immigration laws and in particular, its lenient asylum granting policies. So how can an illness respect national boundaries? The problem is again: traumatized refugee families exist all around the world. Overtakes. [I] started playing with that word, and Life Overtakes Me emerged. The children moreover seem to retain awareness, even though their immobility makes them seem unconscious. They appear floppy, without normal reflexes, and require total care, including feeding and intravenous fluids as they risk kidney failure and death from complications of immobility, malnutrition and dehydration. So some of these families have been in Sweden a year, a year and a half. Dr Olssen rolled up Nolas dress, exposing her bare stomach and revealing that she was wearing a nappy under her tights. But why does this only seem to occur in Sweden? But the arrival of some 300,000 migrants in the last three years has led to a change of heart. [2] A report published in August 2018 suggested there were at least 30. Furthermore, there is no medical cure for Resignation Syndrome. The introduced diagnosis, resignation syndrome, is therefore inappropriate. Called Resignation Syndrome, it affects only the children of asylum-seekers, who withdraw completely, ceasing to walk or talk, or open their eyes. Culture-Bound? "They took me away and then I don't remember anything," he says. To reiterate, it has been demonstrated that in the projection of the mother or fathers trauma onto their child, the son or daughter gradually recognizes the trauma as his or her own. [11] However, this renewed sense of security does not guarantee recovery, and if the child does recover, it takes a long time to feel secure as nightmares and stress continue to linger. 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. New cases stopped occurring. But when he later began to talk about psychological factors behind the symptoms, the number of cases of hysteria dropped. Boztas, Senay. Something peculiar is going on in Sweden, a strange phenomenon affecting children that has defied explanation by doctors and psychiatrists. Then everything sort of snowballed. "We have an expectation that they want to live, and all their abilities are still there, but they just forgot or lost the sense of using them. 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. A blog from the Centre for Research Ethics & Bioethics (CRB). These experiences are usually the driving force of what compels families to flee and seek refuge in nearby states. The article enumerates cases where it can be suspected that catatonia-like conditions are caused psychologically: unexpected, unexplained sudden death after cancer diagnosis; death epidemics in situations of war and captivity characterized by hopelessness; acute or prolonged death after the utterance of magic death spells (known from several cultures). Join the conversation - find us on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter. Sallin, K., Lagercrantz, H., Evers, K., Engstrm, I., Hjern, A., Petrovic, P., Resignation Syndrome: Catatonia? They just fall away from the world. In this stage patients are seemingly unconscious and tube feeding is life-sustaining. [20] Senay Boztas, These Are the Toughest Places for Asylum Seekers to Enter Europe, Telegraph.co.uk, last modified February 5, 2016, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/12140900/These-are-the-toughest-places-for-asylum-seekers-to-enter-Europe.html. [2], The phenomenon has been called into question, with two children reporting that they were forced by their parents to act apathetic in order to increase chances of being granted residence permits. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. This fear of being deported back to the childs place of trauma frequently manifests itself into the symptoms of the syndrome. For instance, before migration, children may experience the stress of living through a state war, the loss of a parents career (frequently leading to a lack of funds), critical illness, the sexual or physical abuse of a family member, or the witnessing of violent acts such as murder. In this scenario, the parents would not find mental health treatment necessary. University of Melbourne provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation AU. They require mental health specialists to create feelings of safety and security. They are unresponsive, even to pain. Life Overtakes Me is now streaming on Netflix, making it available to audiences around the world, including Sweden where it could potentially impact the politics that swirl around refugee matters. But Sophie's father did not escape. ", In order to protect the family's identity, Sophie's name has been changed. Now to Sallins hypothesis in the article. Traumatic Withdrawal Syndrome (Resignation Syndrome), collection of examples from Australia in 2018, including reports from diverse patient populations in detention centers. To further this hypothesis, the surprising denial of asylum due to stricter immigration laws is coupled with the refugee childs manifesting fear of returning to his or her place of trauma. The Strange Illness Among Swedens Refugee 13. In the middle of this debate are children who know nothing of politics, but know they are abandoned without a future. "What happens afterwards? ", Professor Louise Newman A.M., who is director of the Centre for Women's Mental Health, Royal Women's Hospital Melbourne and Professor of Psychiatry at University of Melbourne, is an expert on resignation syndrome. Between 2003 and 2005, 424 cases were reported and hundreds more children have since been struck down with Their children are going to school. Assuming that his hypothesis of a culture bound psychogenesis is true, of course. Everything works normally. Affected individuals (predominantly children and adolescents) first exhibit symptoms of anxiety and depression (in particular apathy, lethargy), then withdraw from others and care for themselves. Accordingly, these refugee children who are assimilating into Swedish society and know the language well, have both their expectations and hopes of securely staying in the country, shattered. https://www.crb.uu.se/personal/karl-sallin/, Uppgivenhetssyndrom hos flyktingbarn en ny hypotes | ETIKBLOGGEN, Only in Sweden - Bioethics Research Library, The New Yorker features resignation syndrome | Bioethics Research Library, Centre for Research Ethics & Bioethics (CRB), Taking care of the legacy: curating responsible research and innovation practice. A young Russian girl named Dasha gradually became afflicted with Resignation Syndrome after her family fled to Sweden. Report calls for royal commission into children in immigration detention: experts respond. When they recover, they can often recall events that occurred while they were ill. Medical and mental health professionals and refugee rights groups are all calling for urgent care for these children. And helping the child's family is a key element of the treatment: "Resolution of the family's asylum issues and residence is a component.". Eventually they recover. Subsequently, there is also a manifesting fear of being deported back to the childs place of previously experienced trauma. They frequently resist others attempts to support or encourage them to engage. [18] Admir Skodo, Sweden: By Turns Welcoming and Restrictive in Its Immigration Policy, Migrationpolicy.org, last modified May 26, 2019, https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/sweden-turns-welcoming-and-restrictive-its-immigration-policy. Theres Uighurs, theres Roma, Yazidis. Elisabeth Hultcrantz: Children disconnect the conscious part of their brain, Annica Carlshamre: This sickness has to do with trauma, not asylum, The secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure. It is up to the parents to transmit this sense of hope as the afflicted children are dependent upon rebuilding security in their lives. Get our latest storiesin the feed of your favorite networks. Child Trauma on Nauru The Facts. Asylum Seeker Resource Centre. Various names have been used to describe this condition since it was originally described in children showing a retreat from external reality. While theyre there, Swedens taking care of themtheyre housed, they have medical care. Identifying the cause has proven elusive. WebResignation Syndrome causes these children to become non-responsive. The question then is: Why does catatonia arise only in refugee children in Sweden? [5] At first, With government wanting to maintain policies to deter asylum seekers and prevent entry to Australia, theyre seemingly accepting harm done to those in limbo. Listen to Sweden's Child Migrant Mystery on Assignment, on the BBC World Service, For transmission times or to catch up online, click here. The ongoing treatment involves promoting a sense of safety and supporting a process of "waking up" and engaging in trauma therapy." Gjinovci first heard of resignation syndrome from a 2017 article in The New Yorker that focused on several refugee families in Sweden with children suffering from the malady. Until a few years ago, having a child with resignation syndrome automatically qualified a family for asylum, at which point the child often recovered. 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. Upon this news, Dasha immediately began crying, slowly rejecting her food and stopped talking altogether after a few months (Life Overtakes Me, 2019). Sweden Was Among the Best Countries for Immigrants. Dias, Joselito, and Iago Santiago. Resignation Syndrome is a defense mechanism for unbearable stress, and thus an example of the unexpected ramifications of refugeedom, which upends lives and 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. Eventually their condition might progress to stupor, i.e. This work takes a lot of energy because we have to live for the children until they start to live on their own.". They have day clothes and night clothes, and experienced staff like Clara Ogren, help them colour or draw by holding their hands to grip a pencil. The intensive and specialist treatment needed cannot be provided in Nauru. Parents require treatment for their own mental health issues and support in providing care for their child. She cried, shouted "Please go and find my dad! The real issue hasn't been dealt with - it's limbo," says Dagson. Secondary symptoms may also appear such as weight gain, viral infections, skin sores, and muscular deterioration. Young people reportedly develop depressive symptoms, become socially withdrawn, and become motionless and speechless as a reaction to stress and hopelessness. All Rights Reserved. Is climate change killing Australian wine? To reiterate, asylum-seeking families and their traumatized children were operating under the assumption that they had a high chance of being granted asylum in Sweden. Resignation syndrome appears to be a very specialized response to the trauma of refugee limbo, in which families, many of whom have escaped dangerous [2] Doctors researching the syndrome observe that those primarily affected are children of asylum seekers from vulnerable communities, including Yazidi refugees from Iraq and migrants from Slavic countries like Russia and Ukraine. This fear, according to Bodegrd, is a perpetuating retraumatization [that] possibly explains the endemic distribution of Resignation Syndrome. "Maybe the new baby when it comes will help," says Sophie's father. WebThe symptoms of Resignation Syndrome are similar to those suffering from Catatonia, a behavioral syndrome that involves a lack of proper movement and speech. Recent legal action resulted in urgent medical evacuation of a child in an unconscious state following a progressive social withdrawal and failure to speak, eat or drink. Resignation Syndrome was first reported late in the 1990s, but there has been an increase in the number of cases in the last two years (2017- 2019). Previous trauma before ones migration as well as the trauma of leaving your home and immigrating to a new country can place an immense amount of stress onto a child. But Sophie's eyes are closed. The mystery remains. When that happens, to where or what can the child turn?". Last modified November 16, 2018. After the family was granted residency the boy recovered. ", "It is different from PTSD in that PTSD, whilst [also] a response to trauma, does not include the element of severe withdrawal, muteness and failure to eat," Professor Newman tells Bustle. Though it may sound similar to post-traumatic stress syndrome, experts believe that the two are different diagnoses. This is a life-threatening condition needing high level medical care. [13] Child Trauma on Nauru The Facts, Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, last modified November 16, 2018, https://www.asrc.org.au/2018/08/28/child-trauma-on-nauru-the-facts/. [5] Catatonia: Symptoms, Causes, and Treatment, WebMD, last modified January 30, 2019, https://www.webmd.com/schizophrenia/what-is-catatonia#1. Here you can choose which regional hub you wish to view, providing you with the most relevant information we have for your specific region. Last modified June 21, 2016. But maybe Sallin, just by proposing psychological causes of the symptoms, has already contributed to reducing the number of cases in the future. 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 In the worst cases, children reject any food or drink and have to be fed by feeding tube;[1] the condition can persist for years. For nearly two decades Sweden has been battling a mysterious illness. We're here to answer any questions you have about our services. It is also important to reiterate that there is incredible stress imbued within the immigration process as well. Pr Segerdahl is the editor of the Ethics Blog and Associate Professor of Philosophy at the Centre for Research Ethics & Bioethics (CRB). Resignation syndrome, called uppgivenhetssyndrom in Swedish, is an illness that causes people to shut down. There are instances reported in Australian [refugee] detention centers, which are pretty awful places, Haptas states.
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