Ulysses Syndrome: Chronic Stress in Immigrants

Moving away from home can place us in a situation of high stress and isolation.

Ulysses syndrome is a stress disorder specific to immigrants.. It is associated with the multiple bereavement experiences faced by these people, as well as with 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 mainly on the work of Joseba Achotegui, the psychiatrist who coined the term by which we refer to this disorder.

What is Ulysses syndrome?

Chronic and Multiple Stress Syndrome, more frequently known as "Ulysses syndrome".is a set of symptoms that derives from severe stressors associated with emigration. One of the factors that contribute most to its appearance is the scarcity of economic resources faced by many people 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 participating in the Trojan War Odysseus sailed for 10 years undergoing great hardship before reaching home.

The term was coined and popularized in the 1990s by Joseba Achotegui, who currently works as a professor at the University of Barcelona and directs the support program called "Servicio de Atención Psicopatológica y Psicosocial a Inmigrantes y Refugiados" or "SAPPIR" (Psychopathological and Psychosocial Care Service for Immigrants and Refugees). It should be noted, however, that it is not an "officially" recognized psychopathology and does not appear in diagnostic manuals such as the DSM-5. Therefore, it is rather considered a set of symptoms referred to by the term "Ulysses syndrome" in a rather informal or orientative way, since this concept is not very detailed or consensual.

Although this syndrome can affect people of all ages, the available evidence reveals that it is more common in the elderly. 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 a new language or adapting to a different culture.

Main symptoms

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

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

The experience of anxiety, also very relevant in this syndrome, is manifested 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 fear. Insomnia is favored by anxiety and poor living conditions..

Achotegui includes in the spectrum of somatization symptoms and signs such as headaches, present in three quarters of those diagnosed, and fatigue, associated with a lack of psychological motivation. Also noteworthy is the tendency of Asian people to present symptoms of a sexual nature, or that of North Africans to present chest discomfort.

Other problems that frequently appear in people with Ulysses syndrome are low self-esteem and a decrease in general performance, excessive consumption of substances such as tobacco and alcohol or painful gastrointestinal, skeletal and muscular symptoms. gastrointestinal, skeletal and muscular.

Causes of this syndrome

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

Thus, some of the triggers or psychological elements that may constitute causes of the Ulysses syndrome (probably in combination, this may be the cause of the Ulysses syndrome) are (probably in combination with each other, as this kind of phenomena does not usually have a single cause) are the following:

• Loneliness due to lack of consolidated friendships.
• Incomprehension of the cultural codes and the scale of values of the country where one is going to live.
• Homesickness for loved ones left behind in the country of origin.
• Feeling that the country one knew is changing in a way that is disconnected from oneself (during occasional visits to the country, many things are significantly different and one has not had time to adapt to it).
• Identity crisis due to not knowing what cultural references to look for.
• Fear of not being accepted by the society of the country where you are going to live.
• Fear of not having the social support (family and old friends) that was taken for granted in the country of origin.

When the demands of the new situation are perceived as excessive for the migrant, symptoms may appear. for the migrant, chronic symptoms of stress and other related psychological alterations may appear, which have a negative influence on 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 regard, unfamiliarity with the language or differences in values are relevant, but also prejudice and discrimination on ethnic and cultural grounds. but also prejudice and discrimination on ethnic and cultural grounds, to which immigrants from many to which immigrants from many countries are systematically subjected.

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

Moreover, the Ulysses syndrome is also favored by the marked difficulties experienced by a large number of immigrants in attempting to legalize their status, in seeking work or in accessing basic services such as housing and medical care. The frustration of the individual's personal and economic expectations is also relevant. of the individual is also relevant.