The search for political asylum (and the risk of being deported) is one of the most traumatic processes a human being can experience, with a special emphasis on children. Over the past 20 years, Swedish health experts have detected multiple cases of deep catatonia in refugee children. The so-called “Resignation syndrome” or “Snow White effect” causes a disconnection from the conscious part of the child’s brain, so they stop talking, walking, eating, and even opening their eyes.
The world is in chaos, populations are moving to escape war conflicts or try to find a better future, and the great powers react either by closing their borders or multiplying requirements for legal entry. Physical and mental abuse not only leaves terrible consequences on adults, but it seems to be amplified among the youngest. In the last twenty years, Swedish authorities have recorded the most disturbing effects of those experiences. Refugee children go on spontaneous hunger strikes, stop walking and talking, and even keep their eyes closed despite external stimuli. The general name for this is “Resignation syndrome”.
At first it was believed that the syndrome was located only in Sweden, since all reports were concentrated in that country, and children do not enter the territory with that condition, but develop it there, sometimes with terrifying speed. Confirmation of the rejection of asylum requests submitted by parents or the final deportation process are usually the triggers. Doctors try to provide a bit more precision, and their hypothesis suggests that the syndrome is the product of the combination of the abuse that children suffered in their country of origin, and the terror of returning there after having completely adapted to Swedish society and customs. They have also said that their patients have no previous history of physical or neurological damage, but simply “fall off the world,” as if it were a form of protection.
The first cases of the syndrome appeared at the end of the last century, and by the year 2005, more than 400 children had been diagnosed with this condition. A group of 42 psychiatrists accused the Swedish government of committing “public and systematic child abuse.” But many wonder: Why Sweden? Resignation syndrome has been classified as “culture-bound.” Each culture has a specific set of symptoms. For example, in some parts of India they speak of Dhat, impotence associated with the idea that men are “losing their semen,” and in Japan appears the highly publicized Hikikomori. The most effective treatment to combat resignation syndrome is the confirmation that the child and their family will remain in the country, but its symptoms can last up to six months after receiving residency.
The Swedes have a word for this: Trygghet, a feeling of security and trust, free from anxiety, fear, and uncertainty. Some Swedish doctors believe that no one can truly be healthy without Trygghet, but the story does not end there. The syndrome seems to have developed a very similar variant in the Republic of Nauru. Last August, a 12-year-old Iranian boy began showing the same symptoms, refusing to eat and reducing his interaction with others to zero. Will we see more cases elsewhere in the world?
