The Kaspar Hauser syndrome of Psychosocial Dwarfism

Rapid growth of a deprived child after rehabilitation: age 15.3 on discovery, then age 16 and 16.9

Children brought up by animals

Many children raised by animals, although they may not have been in perfect health when found, actually exhibited the reverse effect when returned to human society — they failed to thrive, and many died young. The explanation is obvious. These children have been removed from what was — to them — a nurturing social environment, and placed in one which is highly stressful; quite the reverse of what happened to, say, Genie.

The Jacksonville Boy

An unfortunate modern case is The Jacksonville Boy who, according to an evaluation at the Jacksonville Children's Crisis Centre, was suffering from psychosocial dwarfism.

Although 17, he was only the height of a nine year old and the weight of a six year old when found in January 2005. Within two months of being taken into protective custoday, he had gained 13 Kg in weight and over 1 cm in height.

Genie

Although 13 at the time of her discovery, Genie looked more like a seven-year-old.

The cause of reversible hyposomatotropic dwarfism

Of specific relevance to feral children is reversible hyposomatotropic dwarfism. In this syndrome, the failure to grow is caused because production of growth hormone in these children is suppressed owing to excessively high levels of psychosocial stress. Once they are removed to a normal (nurturing) environment, there is usually rapid catch-up growth.

It is not just growth that is affected, but the onset of puberty, because gonadotropic secretion from the pituitary can also be suppressed. In one extreme case of an abused (not feral) child, a boy aged sixteen had the stature and non-pubertal development of an eight-year-old. Rescued from the home of abuse, he grew rapidly and became pubertal in less than a year.

Terminology

The field of growth disorders caused by psychosocial stress is complicated. The terminology is changing, and new classifications and diagnostic criteria are being identified. You will see different terms used to describe variants of these disorders, such as reversible hyposomatotropinism, reversible hyposomatotropic dwarfism, psychosocial short stature and hyperphagic short stature. Psychosocial dwarfism, a rather general term for this class of disorders, is no longer current.