The phenomenon of hospitalism in our lives - a modern vision

Hospitalism is a complex of psychosomatic disorders that develop as a result of a patient’s long stay in a hospital, away from family and friends. The unfavorable conditions of the hospital environment, the lack of emotional and social contacts and simple human communication, as well as complete isolation from society have a depressing effect on the psychophysical state of the patient. A person's long stay in a hospital without the care and attention of loved ones leads to mental and motor development retardation in children, as well as psychophysical degradation in adults.

This concept was introduced in 1945 by American psychoanalyst R. Spitz. He studied how pathology developed in children who were in the hospital for a long time without their mother. At the same time, the patients were carefully looked after, well fed and properly treated. The children gradually showed signs of depression, lethargy, and passivity. Their facial expressions disappeared and their eye coordination was impaired. Patients staying in the hospital for more than a year, without maternal support, acquired signs of deep psychophysical retardation. Spitz concluded: the consequences of hospitalism are long-term and irreversible.

Modern psychologists also note that hospitalism more often occurs in boarding schools, nurseries and children's hospitals. At the same time, they focus on a very important aspect - the influence of the mother on the development of the child. It has been proven that there is a direct relationship between the full development of the baby and parental love.

Hospitalism occurs most often in children, schoolchildren and adolescents. Only isolated cases of the disease have been reported among young, mature and elderly people. Hospitalism has a second name - separation from home syndrome or orphan syndrome. Children are most susceptible to its development:

• Living in shelters, orphanages, closed boarding schools,
• Deprived of proper attention, maternal affection and care,
• Born into dysfunctional families,
• Those suffering from serious illnesses
• Having congenital and acquired disorders of the nervous system.

Sick children lose weight sharply, become weak and lethargic, indifferent to everything. They are emaciated and pale, sleep and eat poorly, and look unhappy. Their muscle tone decreases and their response to the voice disappears. Such patients begin to walk and talk late, show inappropriate emotions, and their actions become obsessive. In severe cases, the overall development of the child slows down. He has difficulty mastering basic skills and cannot take care of himself or control his body. In children, not only communication, but also intellectual abilities, fine motor skills, and the ability to express emotions are impaired. They lag behind their peers in height and weight and experience difficulties in mastering certain motor acts. Disadaptation to the environment and society, loss of interest in life, low resistance to infections are long-term and often irreversible phenomena of hospitalism. If the child is returned to the mother within three months, the symptoms of the disorder will gradually disappear and psychophysical changes will be restored. Prolonged separation leads to the consolidation of clinical manifestations and the rapid developmental lag of the child.

In adults receiving long-term treatment in a hospital, a “chronic illness” syndrome develops. Patients cannot imagine themselves in a different environment and perceive the hospital regime as the norm of life. They shirk their functional responsibilities at work and do not take part in social life. Worldview is distorted especially clearly in older people. Patients strive by any means to return to the hospital walls as soon as possible. They are ready to do anything to stay there longer. Such mental disorders worsen the prognosis of the somatic illness that caused the patient’s initial hospitalization. In the absence of treatment, psychological oppression reaches a maximum, which often ends in the death of patients. Survivors suffer from severe mental illness and antisocial tendencies. Patients who are forced to constantly stay in a mental hospital become disabled precisely from the destructive influence of this syndrome, and not from the mental illness itself.

Clinical signs of pathology depend on the length of stay of the patient in the health care facility:

1. The duration of stay in the department is 5-10 months - isolated symptoms of hospitalism,
2. 10 - 15 months - fully formed disease,
3. More than 15 months - severe course of the disease and maximum severity of symptoms.

The longer a patient stays in the hospital, the less chance he has of saving himself and not falling out of society.

Diagnosis of hospitalism is carried out by specialists in the field of psychology, psychiatry, and neurology. Therapeutic measures include psychological correction, social rehabilitation, work with teachers and defectologists, and taking medications. Hospitalization is a severe pathology leading to irreversible processes.

The essence of deviation

The phenomenon of hospitalism suggests the presence of a number of mental and somatic disorders that occur in children and adults for various reasons.
In the first case, the deviation is due to a lack of communication, attention and education; in infants, it is due to separation from the mother. Hospitalism syndrome in children is expressed in mental and physical underdevelopment and often leads to irreversible consequences, and in the absence of treatment, to death.

In adults, the disorder develops during a long stay in the hospital, in conditions of lack of communication and manifests itself in avoidance of existence in society, loss of interest in work and activity, loss of work skills, and interest in staying in a hospital setting for as long as possible. The longer a patient's stay in a hospital, the less chance of his preservation as a unit of the social environment.

Diagnosis and treatment

Diagnosis of hospitalism includes the following clinical methods:

1. Anamnesis collection - interviewing the patient’s parents and close relatives, staff and other persons who regularly contact him;
2. General examination of the patient by a pediatric neurologist, psychiatrist, clinical psychologist;
3. Neurological examination - determination of muscle strength and tone, response to external stimuli, complex targeted movements, identification of existing diseases of the nervous system;
4. A psychological examination makes it possible to assess the patient’s psychomotor development, ability to communicate and respond adequately, to care for oneself independently, as well as to detect lags in the mental and emotional sphere;
5. Dynamic observation of the patient is necessary to make a final diagnosis.

After receiving the results of diagnostic measures, specialists prescribe adequate and most effective treatment. Doctors pay special attention to young children, since the mortality rate in this category of patients is very high.

Treatment of hospital syndrome is a complex, multi-stage and lengthy process.

Treatment regimen for sick children with hospitalism:

• Increased communication between the child and relatives and peers.
• Return of a small patient to the family.
• Organization of a 24-hour hospital stay between the child and the mother.
• Equipping closed institutions with meeting rooms.
• Pedagogical correction is the development of a child’s communicative qualities by including him in a children’s team, as well as ensuring close interaction between mother and baby.
• The purpose of psychological support is the development of cognitive functions in the child. To do this, exercises are used in the form of games that have a training effect. Psychological assistance allows you to create a positive emotional background, eliminate fear, anxiety, and worry.
• Psychotherapists use art therapy, music and body therapy, relaxation sessions, and training to develop communication and socialization skills for patients. Group, individual and family psychotherapy allows you to restore and maintain a healthy psychological climate in the family and children's groups.
• Medication is used only in severe cases when all other treatment methods do not produce positive results. Patients are prescribed drugs that correct emotional instability, improve metabolic processes in the central nervous system and stimulate the development of cognitive functions.
• Treatment of existing somatic and infectious diseases, restorative therapy.

To cure the syndrome in adults, it is necessary to eliminate the underlying disease that caused their hospitalization in a health care facility. Chronic illnesses are best treated on an outpatient basis. Rehabilitation activities are carried out by a specialist psychotherapist or psychiatrist.

Ideal conditions for degradation

Hospitalization in children and adults occurs for the following reasons:

1. Prolonged hospitalization , the conditions of which isolate a person from communication with family and friends, while the circle of communication is limited to medical personnel. The risk factor in this case is chronic diseases that require frequent long courses of treatment in a hospital setting.
2. Separation of a child from his mother.
3. Lack of attention from the mother and those close to the small child , disinterest in him, his life and his development as a person.
4. Age . In infancy and childhood, children raised in orphanages, boarding schools and other places of a similar nature do not receive the necessary attention and care. This makes social adaptation difficult. Old age also contributes to the development of hospitalism, especially if old people stay in specialized institutions - nursing homes, boarding schools. Lack of attention and lack of love cannot but affect the psycho-emotional state of a person in his later years.
5. Long stays for both children and adults in health centers , where the environment and daily routine are similar to hospital conditions.

Factors that provoke the development of the syndrome also include the poverty of the psychological environment and lack of emotional contact.

I will give a clinical example of the manifestation of hospitalism.

(The description of a clinical example in the article is published with the permission of the adoptive mother)

to see an epileptologist . Complaints: Seen by a psychiatrist with a diagnosis of childhood autism . The child is disabled since childhood. EEG revealed epiactivity. One of the knowledgeable specialists working with autistic people referred me to an epileptologist to clarify the diagnosis.

So, the child has autism spectrum disorder and epiactivity according to the EEG .

Actively identified complaints: Severe delay in speech development - speaks 5-7 words, makes contact selectively, withdrawn behavior. They deny seizures. Lives in a foster family for about 1 year. The girl lived in an orphanage from birth GJXNB until she was 6 years old. The anamnesis is not complete. Hyperexcitable. Hyperactive, restless. He visits specialized rehabilitation centers and notes the positive effect of the classes. Peaceful sleep. There was a delay in the rate of motor development: it is known that he walks independently from the age of 1.5 years. History of the disease: I got acquainted with the medical history from the words of the adoptive mother and partly from medical documents. Pregnancy 3, 36 weeks, OGA (complicated obstetric gynecological history), social factor. Childbirth 3, spontaneous, early. Birth weight 2450 grams, height 46 cm. Diagnosis at birth: Prematurity 36 weeks. Neonatal jaundice. Anemia. Hip dysplasia. We were treated in a psychiatric hospital with a diagnosis of childhood autism . Mental retardation is moderate. The last course of treatment was 1 year ago (chlorprotexen in a hospital setting). Next, psychotropic drugs (chlorprotexen) were gradually withdrawn, after which the girl became more active. The disability was registered with a psychiatrist. Lived in another region. They changed their place of residence in order to get a better opportunity for the rehabilitation of the child.

Mom has a second adopted daughter, and she also has her own biological son. Four of them live: a son, two adopted daughters and a mother. To my question: “What motivated you to take such a difficult child from the orphanage?” Mom replied that she hoped and would be able to pull her through and cope with these difficulties together. And this year they have made great progress.

The girl has an older brother in a similar mental and mental state, living in the same orphanage, who is currently taken to another foster family.

On examination: During the conversation and history taking, the girl selectively makes contact and partially follows commands. Hyperactive: moves chaotically around the office, takes toys, throws them, plays, changes the type of activity. He willingly fulfills his mother’s requests and answers her questions vaguely. Delayed speech development - pronounces words, even sings incomprehensibly, attempts at phrasal speech.

When the doctor approaches the child during the examination, she is negative, cries, and pushes away. Partially accessible for inspection.

The skull is of regular round shape, head circumference is 50 cm (normal), painless on percussion. CMN: pupils of normal size, D = S. Palpebral fissures D = S. Movement of the eyeballs in full, no strabismus, no nystagmus, reaction of the pupils to light is live. The face is symmetrical. The voice is loud, sonorous. Swallowing is not impaired. Tongue in the midline. Motor sphere: Muscle strength is sufficient, no paresis. Muscle tone: slightly reduced diffusely. Tendon reflexes are alive, D = S. There are no pathological reflexes. Gait is not impaired. There are no coordination violations.

Survey results:

EEG (11/10/2014) – diffuse changes in brain activity with signs of neurophysiological immaturity. At the moment of awakening, epileptiform activity is recorded in the frontotemporal areas on the right and left.

Autism is not Epilepsy

Diagnosis: Childhood autism, accompanied by epiactivity on the EEG. There are currently no data for active epilepsy.

Note that this is not cognitive disintegration. Recommendations: 1. EEG (background + sleep) control after 3-4 months 2. Observation by a psychiatrist. 3. Drug therapy: Pantocalcin 0.5, 1 tablet * 3 times a day orally 15-30 minutes after meals for 2 months. 4. Massage (gentle) at home, by mother. 5. Speech therapy classes. 6. Continue correctional pedagogical work in specialized rehabilitation centers.

1. Examination after 3-4 months with EEG.

So, from the article we learned about the phenomenon of hospitalism - this is a combination of mental and somatic disorders that arose in connection with a person’s long stay in the hospital, deprived of communication with loved ones and with home. We learned about the causes, stages of development, and manifestations of hospitalism in children. We found out that hospitalism in psychiatry is the result of the use of psychotropic drugs against the background of a current mental illness, in conditions of a long hospital stay, separated from loved ones.

They told about a clinical case in which a child from birth to 6 years old lived in an orphanage and a psychiatric hospital with manifestations of autism. In this clinical case, despite the presence of mental disorders (autism spectrum disorder), accompanied by epiactivity on the EEG, but in the absence of epileptic seizures, there is currently no evidence of active epilepsy. The child is indicated for follow-up examinations (EEG) and repeated consultations with an epileptologist, but the use of antiepileptic drugs is not indicated. We wish the mother and her girl a speedy recovery.

Basic ideas of Spits theory and modern view

American psychologist Rene Spits (Spitz), studying the behavioral characteristics of residents of boarding schools, explained the phenomenon of hospitalism as follows: even in a favorable sanitary and hygienic environment, with conditions of satisfactory nutrition and care, children deprived of the opportunity to communicate with their parents experience developmental delays - slow development of thinking and speech.

At the same time, the psychologist previously believed that an important condition for the development of hospitalism syndrome is a lack of vitamins in the diet and the small number of personnel called upon to provide care for children.

Rene Spitz

Spitz's followers, further studying the phenomenon, somewhat expanded the concept of the term “hospitalism.” From the point of view of modern researchers, a similar syndrome occurs not only when a child is separated from his mother, but also if close people, being close to the child, do not show interest in him and do not take part in the process of his development and formation.

Hospitalization is especially dangerous for children, as it significantly inhibits their development. Some mental and physical disabilities can last a lifetime.

History of the discovery of the phenomenon

The phenomenon of hospitalism in psychology was discovered by psychoanalyst R. Spits (1945). He studied the phenomenon of hospitalism in children and infants forced to stay in the hospital for a long time, and in children living in a boarding school. The psychoanalyst found out that all the changes that are occurring are associated with the separation of the child from the mother. Spitz's teachings are based on Freud's psychoanalytic theory, in particular the position on the separation of the child from the mother.

Spits studied the condition of children who were in conditions favorable from a hygiene point of view (nutrition, care, cleanliness), but without proper maternal support. And this is what he noticed:

• in the third month of life, children experienced physical deterioration, weakened immunity, and increased mortality;
• a little later mental changes became noticeable, in particular depression, passivity, lethargy;
• in the second year of life, signs of deep psychophysical retardation in all areas (walking, speaking, ability to stand and sit) became noticeable.

As a result of his research, Spits (Spits, Spitz) concluded that children need the care and love of their mother. It is important for the life and development of the child.

The psychoanalyst identified two forms of the syndrome:

• hospitalism associated with complete deprivation of maternal care;
• anaclitic depression, which occurs if at first the child communicated normally with his mother, and then he was isolated.

Kreisler later revised Spitz's concept and came to the conclusion that any deprivation leads to hospitalism. Including inadequate child care in a family setting. Modern researchers adhere to the same point of view.

The phenomenon of hospitalism in infancy

In infancy, the general condition of children abandoned by their mothers or suffering from a lack of their care and attention is characterized by the following indicators:

• refusal to eat, rapid weight loss;
• the child is constantly in a sleepy state and shows no signs of activity;
• muscles lack tone, limbs are limp and flaccid;
• there is no backlash to contacts.

Babies with this syndrome later begin to hold their heads, crawl, sit up independently, and walk. Their movements are less coordinated, unstable and uncertain.

Symptoms

Infants in the first six months of life develop correctly and in a timely manner, if they do not have congenital pathologies. Starting from the age of six months, the formation slows down, and the phenomenon of extinction occurs. Since hospitalism affects physical and personal development, children experience manifestations of psychomotor disorders. Patients have psychophysical underdevelopment, which begins in infancy and progresses as the child grows older.

Symptoms of hospital syndrome in children:

1. Late formation of a complex reaction of revival - lack of smiling, screaming, humming, babbling when familiar faces appear, inability to fix the gaze on an object, tearfulness;
2. Impaired motor development - lack of sucking skills, underdeveloped reflexes, late holding the head and turning the body over, incoordination of movements, unstable and uncertain actions, inability to take a toy and transfer it from hand to hand;
3. Autonomic disorders - a rise in body temperature for no obvious reason, weakness, apathy, decreased muscle tone, drowsiness or insomnia, refusal to eat, short stature and low weight, underdevelopment of the musculoskeletal system, urinary and fecal incontinence, decreased overall body resistance to infections, chronic course of existing diseases;
4. Delayed speech development and progressive speech dysfunction – unintelligibility of speech, loss of intonation;
5. Emotional and personal disorders - crying and aggression in response to adults, indifference to everything that happens around, underdevelopment of higher emotions, lack of interest in communication, apathy, isolation or emotional irascibility with crying, screaming, fighting, disinhibition, antisocial behavior, lack of compassion, pity, shame, guilt, obedience, silence, indifference;
6. The appearance of stereotypical movements and obsessive actions - swaying the body, shaking the head, thumb sucking, chaotic movements of the arms and legs;
7. Intellectual disorders - inability to master basic skills, the predominance of inhibition processes over excitation, decreased adaptation in society, lack of role-playing games, severe mental retardation;
8. Changes in the central nervous system - neurasthenia, psychosis, signs reminiscent of autism, fear of toys, touches and looks, lack of self, uncertainty, stiffness of movements and slowness, constant anxiety, frequent conflicts, signs of depression, mood swings.

Clinical signs of pathology in adults:

• Lack of interest in professional activities and a desire to idle,
• Apathy, passivity, indifference,
• Fear of being discharged from the hospital,
• Reluctance to communicate with people, isolation,
• Constant conflicts with others,
• Meaningless and monotonous, often repeated, obsessive movements,
• Emotional impoverishment.

Elderly individuals with hospitalization suffer from progressive brain dysfunction. They experience mental disorders, manifested by memory lapses; thinking becomes inadequate - patients perceive real events distorted. General signs of pathology include: lethargy, apathy, weakness, cachexia, stiffness of movement, muscle rigidity, lack of initiative, carelessness. Patients lack plans and hopes, they become inhibited, lack of initiative, mannered, exhausted, and inactive. Most patients have a negative attitude towards returning to work after discharge. They don't read, don't watch TV, and rarely leave the house. Their gaze becomes frozen and distant, their limbs twitch slightly. Over time, signs of dysfunction of the vestibular apparatus appear, helplessness in matters of self-care and behavior in everyday life increases, personal regression and emotional emptiness develop.

Childhood deprivation

Children, in response to separation from their mother or lack of attention and love, develop hospitalism, which manifests itself in severe mental retardation, deficiency in body weight and height, and deviations in mental development.

Babies do not respond to sound or movement of an object and cry for a long time for no reason. Older children deliberately bang their heads against the wall and master neatness skills late - usually only after 3-5 years.

They often experience urinary incontinence - both nighttime and daytime, and stool loss. Such children's sleep is superficial. They do not have enough positive emotions, they refuse contacts, and are not drawn to people. Their process of personality formation is disrupted.

All these phenomena lead to severe mental disorders, for example, autism, mental retardation.

Sometimes hospitalization can cause the death of a child, especially when an infection is attached that the weakened body is not able to fight.

Conditions necessary for successful infant development

The study of hospitalism and the strange tendency exhibited by infants leads to the formation of the conditions necessary for the successful raising of children.

A healthy baby, when awake, is in constant motion. Rocking in the arms, caresses, which the baby receives from a sensible mother or nurse, are clearly beneficial. Undoubtedly, nature never intended for anyone to lie quietly in a crib from morning to evening.

If the baby requires something more, then it is air - a lot of fresh, clean air. Since the person is small, it is believed that only a small air space is required. Clothing, hygiene, food may be ideal, but if confined to a small, poorly ventilated room, it will not develop well.

What does it look like as an adult?

In adults, a similar syndrome usually occurs in old age, especially if a person is lonely and lacks care, attention and love from loved ones.

The characteristic symptoms in this case are:

• loss of appetite;
• development of apathy;
• personal regression;
• memory impairment;
• loss of the ability to adequately think and understand what is happening;
• emotional impoverishment;
• decreased sociability;
• deterioration of relationships with other people;
• loss of interest in work.

In adults, a similar phenomenon can cause personal devastation and loss of interest in life.

Symptoms

One of the first conditions to note is gradual weight loss, which is independent of the original illness and often occurs after recovery. Subsequent atrophy has an inverse relationship with age, being especially noticeable before six months.

The onset of weight loss, independent of the disease, is a sign of immediate discharge from the hospital. If a person passes a certain point, no change in environment or food will save him.

As the condition develops, progressive anemia appears, and children often die without having an organic disease.

Pneumonia, diarrhea, or other acute conditions that the body cannot completely overcome are not uncommon. They can be saved by leaving the hospital in a timely manner, despite the apparent contradiction.

The phenomenon of hospitalism in psychiatry

Separately, it should be noted that the conditions of stay in a psychiatric hospital create a risk of pharmacogenic personality regression, which is the most severe form of hospitalism.

This phenomenon develops very quickly, and the situation is aggravated by the fact that patients become accustomed to psychotropic drugs in a short time. Such people lose the desire to study or work, or to exist outside of hospital life at all.

After reducing the dosage of psychotropic drugs, the patient's interest in his surroundings is partially restored.

Forecast

Modern people had a myth about “rugged individualism,” which may have been an indirect cause of hospitalism. In those days, parenting "experts" advised parents to never take their children out of kindergarten early, never let them sleep in the same room, or they would grow up weak, stuttering, dependent.

Today, this attitude is influencing the current mental health crisis. 20% of all adults should be hospitalized and receive medication for stress-related mood disorders. People need human contact

Hospitalism syndrome in the new millennium is also associated with hospital stays, but more often with the complexity of social problems, family relationships, lack of touch, communication and mother's love.

How to act

Treatment for hospitalism differs between children and adults. This syndrome is especially dangerous for children, which is why therapy takes much longer than recovery for adults.

To return a child to the social environment and restore his interest in life, it is necessary:

• work with a psychologist;
• pedagogical correction;
• expanding your social circle;
• intensifying the child’s communication with peers.

If the syndrome occurs when a child is placed in a hospital setting, it is necessary to return him to the family as quickly as possible, and while he is in the hospital, regularly visit him and show interest in him; the best option would be to organize the mother’s presence around the clock child.

When treating adult patients, the problem is treated as follows:

• if possible, eliminate the symptoms of the disease due to which the patient is forced to remain in hospital, as well as its root cause;
• carry out rehabilitation with a psychotherapist;
• provide the patient with attention and care from loved ones.

Can hospitalism be cured?

At the initial stage, hospitalism is treatable. The best way to do this is to close the baby’s need for a close connection with an adult. But this is almost impossible in shelters and in dysfunctional families. Therefore, experts prescribe other treatment methods. For example, special games-exercises for training memory, motor skills of hands and fingers. In addition, playing with adults somehow evokes positive emotions in the child. In severe cases, special children's medications are prescribed that stabilize the functioning of the nervous system and improve the emotional state, regardless of age.

Prevention of the syndrome

Prevention of dangerous hospitalism syndrome in children is to fill the child’s day as much as possible with interesting activities, games, and possibly work.
If possible, you should provide sufficient attention and care from loved ones, talk to the baby, discuss everything that interests him. In adult patients, it is possible to prevent the development of this phenomenon by providing them with a social circle, allowing them to place photographs of loved ones or objects reminiscent of home in the ward.

It is necessary to maintain the patient’s social activity - if the condition allows, to involve him in simple assistance in caring for other patients, to ensure independence and independence in meeting his needs.

Are these conditions met in neonatal hospitals?

This question cannot be answered in one sentence. However, personal care is often inadequate due to insufficient numbers of nurses.

Personal care includes many; this is not limited to a bath in the morning, changing diapers and feeding at set intervals. Each infant should be picked up and held until feeding is completed. All children should receive adequate opportunity to exercise their limbs. All this requires constant attention.

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Inappropriate newborn care is less common in hospitals than inadequate care. Lack of effective nursing care is one of the important causes of hospitalization. When nurses are incompetent or uncaring.

Space ventilation is another consideration in hospital care for sick children. Hygiene and care may be ideal, feeding the best, but if there are too many children in the ward, hospitalization is almost certain to occur.

However, a large space is not enough; it is useless if there is no ventilation. Children in hospitals will continue to die until they receive generous amounts of each of the three great conditions of development - care, contact and air.

Whenever people say that the road to Hell is paved with good intentions, remind them that even if this is true, it is those with evil intentions who travel exactly along this road. The saying serves only one useful purpose, as a warning against excessive enthusiasm.

As it was

When the microscope was invented and Jonas Salk discovered penicillin, doctors knew that germs were the true cause of most diseases, but they had no effective drugs. The best they could do was isolate people who were sick.

To prevent germs from spreading, patients were isolated, fed well, and hoped that the natural immune system would save them. But there was an unexpected side effect.

The children were kept in the ward for several days. Their only human contact was the nurses who brought food. Children were not even allowed to have toys for fear that they contained hidden germs. After a few days, many children stopped eating and slowly faded away.

The doctors had no idea what to do about it, since it happened in hospitals, and they named the cause of death as “hospitalism.”

Today it’s hard to believe that experts could miss something so obvious. People don't just want attention. This is a real biological need, the younger the person, the more damage hospital syndrome will cause to the brain when the need is not satisfied.

Psychologist Harry Harlow, using the example of primates, convinced many that people need love to live. Expecting children to thrive when deprived of human contact has tragically fatal consequences. It is also harmful for adults to ignore emotions for fear of looking “weak.”

Possible complications

In the absence of careful child care, medical supervision, psychological and pedagogical support, hospitalization can lead to the following complications:

• delayed physical development: lack of weight, height, underdevelopment of the musculoskeletal system;
• poor care, non-compliance with hygiene standards, reduced immunity lead to the development of infections;
• mental disorders: mental retardation, neuroses, pseudo-autistic symptoms, depression, psychopathy;
• psychological problems: communication difficulties, aggressiveness, increased anxiety, lack of self-confidence, conflict.

Case in California

The fact that hospitalism occurs in the absence of normal upbringing and isolation from society is clearly demonstrated by a relatively recent case that occurred in the American town of Arcadia.

Social services found a thirteen-year-old girl in the closet of a city house. The savage grew up in a cramped room, without seeing sunlight, without normal nutrition, conditions for caring for the body and any communication.

The girl's mother turned out to be a mentally ill person. She was unable to give a single adequate answer about her treatment of the child. If the social service worker had not discovered the terrible discovery, the girl was in danger of imminent death, since her body was already in a catastrophic state.

The girl was given the name Jenny and placed in a clinic at the University of California. She was given first aid and nursed under the close attention and care of a team headed by the famous psychologist D. Rigler. Doctors tried to return Jenny to her human form, but the results were disastrous: the girl never learned to express her thoughts and communicate. All her behavioral skills were reduced to only the most primitive reflexes.

By studying this case, which is directly related to the disease called “Hospitalism,” psychologists once again proved the vital need for a person to have harmonious communication and interaction with society.