Citation

Bianucci R, Charlier P, Perciaccante A, Lippi D, Appenzeller O. Eur. J. Intern. Med. 2017; 41: 30-32.

Affiliation

New Mexico Health Enhancement and Marathon Clinics Research Foundation, 361 Big Horn Ridge Dr, Albuquerque, NM, USA; New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, 1801 Mountain Road NW, Albuquerque, NM, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.ejim.2017.03.020

PMID

28377064

Abstract

Due to civil wars, violence and persecutions, between 2015 and 2016, more than 1.4 million people, from the Middle East and Africa, fled their counties and migrated to Europe. The vast majority of migrants, who have already experienced enormous level of stressors, are faced with dangerous, often lethal, migratory journeys. Those who survive are exposed to adaptation stressors such as different languages, isolation, lack of work opportunities, diminished social status and a sense of failure in the new countries of residence. These are stressors that go far beyond the usual adaptation stresses to new cultures and migrants experience permanent crises with an imminent risk of developing the "Ulysses syndrome". As a consequence, many individuals often develop symptoms such as irritability, nervousness, migraine, tension headache, insomnia, tiredness, fear, loss of appetite and generalized ill-defined discomfort. If left untreated these symptoms, originally described by Hofer in the 17th century, may degenerate into a severe psychosomatic disorder leading to reactive depression. Here we expand the concept of Ulysses' syndrome and illustrate new initiatives aimed at reducing the level of stressors in migrants and at promoting their successful integration in their new countries.

Copyright © 2017 European Federation of Internal Medicine. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

Integration projects; Migrations patterns; Psychosomatic disorders