social breakdown syndrome
a symptom pattern observed primarily in institutionalized individuals with chronic mental illness but also in populations such as long-term prisoners and older people. Symptoms include withdrawal, apathy, submissiveness, and progressive social and vocational incompetence. Previously considered to be symptomatic of mental illness, this decline is now attributed to internalized negative stereotypes, such as identification with the sick role and the impact of labeling (see labeling theory); the absence of social support; and institutional factors such as a lack of stimulation, overcrowding, unchanging routine, and disinterest on the part of staff. Also called chronicity; institutionalism; institutional neurosis; social disability syndrome.