There are some signs that this tragic, absurd and mass psychotic copycat epidemic is coming to its end. An end that returns to what the State Inquiry SOU 2006:49 concluded, and Dr. Jackson concluded and even professor Bryan Lask and British Medical Association feared namely that asylumseeking adults are behind this unhumane abuse on children.
Let us to international observers give a short summary what has happened in Sweden year from year 2001 until now June 2012.
Anno Domino 2001: One or two asylumseeking children with families showed atypical symtoms after their asylum application failed. The childrens symtoms were silence, immobility, giving no contact, just lying in their beds. Their parents told Swedish health staff to be quit and shut up as their child was very ill and sad, the adults told. Parents informed health staff their child did not eat or drink and they wanted tube feeding otherwise “our child will die they told”. The adults/parents even physically abused and threatened Swedish health staff to prescribe gastric tubes so the child would survive. Swedish doctors wrote certificates proclaiming the child was very ill and the child with this family was thanks to this given asylum as Swedish law clearly states that if a child is very unwell the child and its family has a better chance to get asylum in Sweden.
A.D. 2002: Swedish media, newspapers and TV begin their reporting about these children. They did not know how to name this “peculiar disease” so they called it “apathetic children disease”. Media interviewed the parents, the child could not be interviewed as it was just lying in bed not giving contact, not moving, totally silent. Parents told media their child had witnessed war crimes in the country they fled from and “now she is like this”. Swedish media wrote sensational articles, sensational headlines and pictures of these “extremely unwell children” were all over Sweden in every newsmagazine and discussed in TV-sofas the years 2003-2005. The media just quoted the adults, took pictures of the silent paralyzed children and the adult refugees and Swedish media together demanded asylum for these children. The epidemic exploded in numbers (of course it was copycats but this theory Swedish media never wrote about). The fall of 2005 the unexplainable epidemic had grown to around 500 hundred severely ill children. It became a top political issue. The Swedish labour government almost had to resign becaue of allegations from Swedish journalism of unhumanity as they did not give immediate asylum to all severely ill children. The Swedish Government had though ordered a public inquiry that was led by Barbro Holmberg, the minister of migration (mother of Elin, exwife to Tiger Woods). This inquiry was led by Marie Hessle, an experienced child psychologist and the inquiry made a thorough investigation SOU 2006:49. It opened up for the MabP- syndrome, i.e. Malingering by Proxy. In other words illness falsification in children by adults that in fact abused their own children, or others that in some cases even might have been bought on human slave markets in the far east. The Inquiry had though to be very cautious as some career focused child psychiatrists in Stockholm in chief positions had since AD 2002 stated they had discovered a new psychological syndrome which they called “apathetic childrens giving up syndrome”. This is a subtype, they told, to a fairly broad clinical syndrome that in literature is named “pervasive refusal syndrome”. These psychoanalytically trained pediatricians had worked together with and was strongly supported by an unanimous press corps since year 2001. And these two professional groups, i.e. the journalists and Stockholm pediatricians were becoming increasingly upset when the State Inquiry reminded abut the possibility of the MabP-syndrome. In short, the psychoanalytical trained doctors got strong support from the mighty press.
Autumn 2005 For the first time reports is published in Swedish media that put into question what adult asylum seeking are telling about their children. Nurses and health staff tell in the newspaper Svenska Dagbladet about the frauds. Unfortunately this link is only in Swedish: http://www.svd.se/nyheter/inrikes/apatiska-barn-ofta-inte-sjuka_488587.svd This article was the first to break the big taboo in Sweden never to critise in any way any asylum seeker. To make allegations of lies against any members of an asylum seeking family was considered as a big offense. The two journalists that wrote this were strongly rebuked by 99,9% of their colleagues and one of them was fired after one more article he published about the hoax. Some months after the first article the Swedish-Brittish psychiatrist Dr. Thomas Jackson together with two other fully qualified psychiatrists in the speciality general adult psychiatry Dr. Tomas Ericson and Dr. Hans Bendz also stood up and criticised the Stockholm pediatricians for not working according to evidence based medicine but without good scientific reasons continued to cling on to their idea they had discovered a new syndrome entity. So in short the State Inquiry got support from three very experienced psychiatrists that contradicted the Stockholm pediatricians. In January 2006 Dr. Jackson published in Swedens biggest Medical Journal “Dagens Medicin” a trend setting article named “Group Malingering by Proxy” where he clearly stated that the strange illness is an epidemic of severe MabP- assaults from adults on an extremely vulnerable group namely children that dont know the Swedish language, and are dependent upon the perpetrators who have silenced them and reckon every move they make. Well, what happened then? What do you believe happened when finally, after five years of severe maltreatment of refugee children, this hoax and severe child abuse, after five years was out in the open? The result was of course that the tragic epidemic disappeared totally. See link: http://www.dn.se/debatt/snart-finns-inga-apatiska-flyktingbarn-i-landet
Please click on this graph to make it bigger.
But listen now. Now comes what is really really interesting in this epidemic in Sweden. So far so good one might think. So, finally the truth was out in the open. Thanks to a good quality State Inquiry and some bravehearted specialist doctors that dared to criticize their colleagues in Stockholm publically. This insight spread to everyone on Sweden, including refugees in asylum camps, refugee advocates, solicitors including traffickers. In other words the trick, hoax and fraud was disclosed. A tragedy that had meant severe sufferings for many children that had had to stay immobile and silent in bed for years, tube feed and under many coerced investigations. Many children never came back to normal psychological health, due to the assaults many developed factitious and nervous disorders and some had even according to information been starved to death, in torture disguised as the “giving up syndrome”. All this happening in a modern country that has signed UN Child Convention. Everone in Sweden wanted now to forget about the scandal. It was just too severely embaressing and a too big shame to discuss.
So why did it all start up again?
Well. When everything was disclosed some Stockholms pediatricians and senior journalists on Swedish State TV were named and shamed. They wanted revenge. They had lost their face just a little bit too much. So the ashamed personal network on Swedish TV and Radio decided to scrutinize and analyse the State Commission, ministers, officials and all doctors involved. In short a hardcore secular communistic TV- journalist Gellert Tamas made a reportage in his private firm. This journalist was since a long time well known for biased reporting – but he was also known for being extremely tough and an expert on structural racism. His company was higly paid and he worked four months “investigating” the State Inquiry. His final production was then aired on State Televisions best TV-time 8.00 pm Septembar 2006 as “The Absolute Truth” about the apathetic children. In this strongly edited and censored programme the reporter lobbied for a theory that the State Inquiry 2006:49 was xenophobic in its character and used as a structural rascist instrument. His TV-programme was idolised and this reporter Gellert Tamas was lifted to the skies by some journalists in Sweden that unless Gellert Tamas was right would have been forced to creep to the cross. And the Stockholm pediatricians sighed of relief as they might have risked their licenses to work if the SOU:2006:49 would have gained terrain.
Very sadly though the content of the TV-programme spread everywhere, and to all, including doctors, state officials, journalists, refugees and others. Refugees lawyers now knew that it was rascist to adhere to the theory that adults were manipulating their children. So, very naturally and predictable the epidemic started up again. And this time, because of one false reportage, a clearly manipulated reportage celebrated unanimously by Swedish media and the specialist doctors in Stockholm, the assaults were regarded as non existing. MabP-hypothesis was regarded as a manipulation of a xenophobic State Inquiry. The media elite that were protected by Tamas reportage made then sure that no resistance could occur on the public media stage in Sweden. Everyone who tried to oppose against the assualts from adults on asylum seeking children were now labelled xenophobic. In this way the stage became wide open for everyone that wanted to continue the hoax. So it all started up again. For the moment in Sweden, spring of 2012, we have approximately 30-50 apathetic children that lies silent in their beds and are tube feed whilst waiting to loose that much weight that they become that critical ill, in such a life threatening condition so asylum is given them and their families.
A.D. 2012 It is though difficult to keep a lie alive forever. Even in a neutral and by traditions very cautious society like Sweden. And this spring two sensational incidents have occured:
1. A report was published that the apathetic children have extremely increased levels of stress hormones during their treatments periods, in hospital or ambulant care. And when not under treatment their stress hormones slowly were normalised. This is a very strong indication that the SOU 2006:49 was totaly right as it warned for cruel assaults on the refugee children.
2. The Chairman of Swedish Child and Adoclescent Psychiatric Association Dr. Lars Joelsson understands that something just has to be done to stop the atrocities against the children. When we interviewed Dr. Joelsson in November 2011 he just cried out “but if we dont tube feed the children they will die”. So in March 2012 dr. Joelsson with great courage wrote an article published in a psychiatric journal that had the title “To think right is good, to change opinion is even better”. In this article he tells about how apathetic children that are separated from their parents get well and how the parents disapprove of this treatment model even if the children get well. This method have already strongly been advocated from the State Inquiry, the method has been used with total success in Norway that has no problem with assaults like these. Of course an article and reportage like this from a leading Swedish professional is not given any media publicity in Sweden as it once again implicate that the Stockholm pediatricians and journalists have gone wrong in their understanding of the cruel epidemic.
Summary: Everything speaks for that Sweden for over ten years has been, and still is, the site for probably the worlds ever biggest copycat epidemic, an totally unnecessary epidemic if media had opened up, an epidemic severely victimizing thousends of vulnerable refugee children. And not one single time, I repeat, not one single time has Swedish media discussed if they themselves are a copycat producing factor causing this tragedy.
Many Swedes, doctors, politicians, health officials, and many among the public now ask for an international investigation into this catastrophe. But Swedish established media and publishing companies, owned to 70% by just two families named Hjörnes and Bonniers say no. Instead they continue to promote that the theory of their favorite journalist Gellert Tamas should be trusted. I.e. the parents are innocent, there are no signs of abuse of the children. And, the children are victims of PTSD and therefore they lie immobile, silent, they avoid any kind of contact making with health staff. Because of PTSD, Tamas says, they cant move, they cant eat and therefore fed by tubes, week after week, month after months and some children years after years. And in Sweden, the parents are always with them, together. Until they are given asylum.