The disease seems to be contagious--socially contagious. By this I mean that once it is realized that having a child lie motionless in bed is an effective way to block deportation proceedings, thanks to the extremely accommodating Swedish immigrant/refugee medical and social support apparatus, others in similar situations try it too.

I don't want to diminish the very significant hardships many of these immigrant/refugees are under. If telling my child to just lie still in bed, when the social worker comes by, allows my family to stay in Sweden instead of being sent back to Syria, I would probably do it too. If it was a requirement for a NG feeding tube to be placed in the child, even that might be an unpleasant but ultimately worthwhile sacrifice.

Resignation Syndrome seems to reliably and rapidly abate once the threat of deportation is removed. Is that because a massive stressor is removed and mental health can be regained? Or is it because a pretense can be lifted once the threat of deportation is removed?