resignation syndrome

This is a sad term that has come into our lexicon. It is the name given to a dissociative syndrome producing a state of catatonia in the sufferer, and usually the consequence of psychological trauma. It was identified initially in the children of refugees in Sweden – resignation syndrome is a translation of the Swedish Uppgivenhetssyndrom.  We are now talking about it in relation to the children in Manus Island and Nauru.

Basically the children find the world so horrible that they withdraw from it completely, retire to their beds, refuse to eat or talk or engage with the world in any way. A radio commentator made the distinction between a hunger strike and resignation syndrome. A hunger strike is a form of active political protest. These children are too young to understand the politics or make decisions about how to protest. But they do see clearly that the world that they are in cannot be endured.

ZG: 10

I am going to give this top score because I think it is a term that should grab our attention, even though it is recently introduced and probably doesn't have huge currency yet.