title: The "Ulysses syndrome": An eponym identifies a psychosomatic disorder in modern migrants.
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.
authors.affiliation: Warwick Medical School, Microbiology and Infection Division, The University of Warwick, Gibbet Hill Road, Coventry CV4 7AL, United Kingdom; Department of Public Health and Pediatric Sciences, Legal Medicine Section, University of Turin, Italy; UMR 7268, Laboratoire d'Anthropologie bio-culturelle, Droit, Etique & Santé (Adés), Faculté de Médecine de Marseille, France. Electronic address: r.bianucci@warwick.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Raffaella
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bianucci
authors.affiliation: Section of Medical and Forensic Anthropology (UVSQ & Paris-Descartes University EA 4569), Montigny-Le-Bretonneux, France; CASH & IPES, Nanterre, France.
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Charlier
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, "San Giovanni di Dio" Hospital, Gorizia, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Perciaccante
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, University of Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: Donatella
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lippi
authors.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.
authors.forename: Otto
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Appenzeller
mesh_terms: D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D005060:Europe; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D013577:Syndrome; D014171:Transients and Migrants / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: Integration projects; Migrations patterns; Psychosomatic disorders