Ulysses syndrome: chronic stress in immigrants

Ulysses syndrome is a stress disorder specific to immigrants. It is associated with the multiple experiences of grief these people face, as well as the difficulties they must overcome to adapt to the new context.

In this article we will describe Ulysses syndrome, its main symptoms and its most common causes. For this we will base ourselves fundamentally on the work of Joseba Achotegui, the psychiatrist who coined the term by which we refer to this alteration.

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What is Ulysses syndrome?

Chronic and Multiple Stress Syndrome, known more frequently as "Ulysses syndrome", is a set of symptoms that derives from serious stressors associated with emigration. One of the factors that most contribute to its appearance is the scarcity of economic resources that many people face in this situation.

The usual nomenclature of this syndrome refers to Odysseus, a hero of Greek mythology who was known as "Ulysses" in the Roman world. According to the Iliad and the Odyssey, the two main epic texts of Ancient Greece, after participate in the Trojan War UIises sailed for 10 years going through great difficulties before get home.

The term was coined and popularized in the 1990s by Joseba Achotegui, who currently serves as a full professor at the University of Barcelona and directs the support program that receives the name of "Service of Psychopathological and Psychosocial Attention to Immigrants and Refugees" or "SAPPIR".

Although this syndrome can affect people of all ages, the available evidence reveals that it is more common in the elderly and middle-aged. This is probably due to factors such as fewer opportunities for socialization and greater difficulty in learning the new language or adapting to a different culture.

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Main symptoms

The symptoms present in people with Ulysses syndrome can vary depending on the particular case, but they have been related to four categories of psychological disturbances: anxiety, depression, dissociation (disconnection from physical and emotional experience) and somatoform disorders (physical symptoms of psychogenic origin).

In the depressive area, the presence of feelings of sadness associated with the perception of failure stand out personal, low self-esteem and thoughts related to guilt and, rarely, the desire to To die. According to Achotegui, specific symptoms are influenced by culture; for example, guilt is more common in Westerners than Asians.

The experience of anxiety, also very relevant in this syndrome, manifests itself in symptoms such as recurrent and excessive worry (similar to that of generalized anxiety disorder), tendency to irritability, psychological and physical tension or feelings of afraid. Insomnia is favored by anxiety and poor living conditions.

Achotegui includes symptoms and signs such as headaches, present in three-quarters of the people diagnosed, and fatigue, associated with a lack of psychological motivation. It also highlights the tendency of Asian people to present symptoms of a sexual nature or that of Maghrebis to discomfort in the chest.

Other problems that appear frequently in people with Ulysses syndrome are low self-esteem, decreased performance at a general level, excessive use of substances such as tobacco and alcohol or painful symptoms gastrointestinal, bone and muscle.

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Causes of this syndrome

Ulysses syndrome has been related to the grieving process, which consists of the adaptation to psychologically significant losses. People who emigrate are partially separated from their usual environment, their family, their friends and even their identity as citizens of a specific region of the world.

When the demands of the new situation are perceived as excessive for the migrant, chronic symptoms may appear stress and other related psychological disorders that negatively influence well-being and adaptation to the context. This chain of events is what is generally known as Ulysses syndrome.

The feeling of sociocultural isolation is considered a key factor in the appearance of the syndrome. In this sense, the lack of knowledge of the language or the differences in values ​​are relevant, but also prejudice and discrimination on ethnic and cultural grounds to which immigrants from many countries are systematically subjected.

In cases where the migration process has been carried out illegally, fear of possible consequences (in particular the internment and deportation) constitutes an additional stressor with a particularly high potential to promote a state of malaise chronic emotional.

On the other hand, Ulysses syndrome is also favored by the marked difficulties experienced by a large number of immigrants when trying to legalize their situation, when looking for work or when accessing basic services such as housing and medical assistance. The frustration of personal and financial expectations of the person is also relevant.

Bibliographic references:

• Achotegui, J. (2005). Borderline stress and mental health: the Syndrome of the Immigrant with Chronic and Multiple Stress (Ulysses Syndrome). Northern Journal of Mental Health of the Spanish Society of Neuropsychiatry, 5 (21): 39-53.

• Achotegui, J., Morales, M. M., Cervera, P., Quirós, C., Pérez, J. V., Gimeno, N., Llopis, A., Moltó, J., Torres, A. M. & Borrell, C. (2010) Characteristics of immigrants with chronic immigrant stress syndrome or Ulysses syndrome. of the Spanish Society of Neuropsychiatry, 8 (37): 23-30.

• Díaz-Cuéllar, A. L., Ringe, H. TO. & Schoeller-Diaz, D. TO. (2013) The Ulysses Syndrome: Migrants with chronic and multiple stress symptoms and the role of indigenous linguistically and culturally competent community health workers. Retrieved from www.panelserver.net/laredatenea/documentos/alba.pdf on July 27, 2017.