Adult child survivor syndrome on deprived childhoods of aging Holocaust survivors.
The present paper aims at understanding the psycho-(patho-)logical status of aging child survivors (CSs) of the Holocaust.


BACKGROUND
CSs had deprived childhoods, were exposed to massive trauma and losses, then rebuilt their existences. Their post-Holocaust malaise was suppressed and split off from daily life and overt activities, only to reappear, after a delay, in different forms and intensities, further aggravating upon aging.


METHODS
Following a definition of age, origin, number of living CSs, types of early traumatic impacts, and introductory remarks on what CSs experienced as children and as young adults in the postwar society, the psychosocial research on adult and aging CSs is reviewed.


RESULTS
The concept of childhood-deprivation and its late sequelae can be substantiated. Definitions of child-survivor complex, CS syndrome and adult child-survivor syndrome are proposed. Non-professional caretakers discerned earlier the existence or extent of the adult CS syndrome Limitations of psychiatric investigation of ACs are the lack of agreed-upon diagnostic criteria.
Dasberg
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AMCHA, National Israeli Center for Psychosocial Support of Holocaust Survivors and the Second Generation, Jerusalem, Israel.
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D017767:Holocaust / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011599:Psychopathology; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology*; D013577:Syndrome