Infants placed from birth who wither away for long weeks in the hospital while waiting for a place to fall.
Others cared for in overcrowded child welfare (ASE) nurseries, where there is a shortage of staff.
It is a reality that is hard to imagine in the France of the 21st century.
However, due to lack of places, it happens today that babies entrusted to the child protection services to protect them from failing parents are suffering from hospitalism.
A syndrome that refers to post-war images that we thought had disappeared.
This form of depression linked to affective deprivation and the absence of an attachment figure in the context of a long stay in hospital or placement was first described in 1946 by the psychiatrist Rene Spitz.
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