Peter Pan syndrome
Peter Pan syndrome is an inability to grow up or to engage in behaviour usually associated with adulthood. The term comes from the fictional children's character Peter Pan, who never ages.[1] While it is more commonly attributed to men, it can affect women as well.[2]
The concept gained popularity through Dr. Dan Kiley (psychoanalyst) in his book The Peter Pan Syndrome: Men Who Have Never Grown Up first published in 1983. His book became an international best seller and led to a wave of copycat pop-psychology books. Dr. Kiley got the idea for "The Peter Pan Syndrome" after noticing that, like the famous character in the J. M. Barrie play, many of the troubled teenage boys he treated had problems growing up and accepting adult responsibilities. This trouble continued on into adulthood.
While transageism, or adults regarding themselves as juveniles or adolescents (also referred to as "juvenilism" and "adolescentilism", respectively[3]) is not listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, and is not recognized by the American Psychiatric Association as a specific mental disorder,[4] the concept is falsely modelled on transgenderism. This transageist concept has garnered a great deal of controversy.[4] Neither transageism or Peter Pan Syndrome are recognized by the World Health Organization.[2][5] And though similarly presented, there are distinct differences between Peter Pan syndrome and puer aeternus.[6]
People who exhibit characteristics associated with the Peter Pan syndrome are sometimes referred to as Peter Panners.[7] Humbelina Robles Ortega, a professor of Personality, Evaluation and Psychological Treatment at Universidad de Granada, links the syndrome with overprotective parents and the lack of life skills which create anxiety in adulthood.[2]