Hikikomori

Hikikomori

The Social Withdrawal of People in Japan

Q: Who are the 'hikikomori'?

Fundamentally it is young men, but it is also young women as well, and they are usually in their late teens, and twenties and thirties. The range of psychological backgrounds, disorders that covers hikikomori could be anything from anxiety disorders, depression and various other conditions.

Q: It is usual for teenagers to want to shut themselves in their rooms for an a while. But hikikomori is a lot more serious?

Yes, absolutely, it is a very serious situation. I don't think it is completely unique necessarily to Japan, but the thing itself is that it covers what is yet to be completely addressed, but is seriously being considered at the moment, of how actually to get into the community to reach these people because they are not simply staying at home for a few hours. In some cases people could be up to a year, it could be five years or even longer.

Q: What sort of behavioral patterns do you see. Are these people violent?

No hikikomri is not a synonym for violence, I would not see it in itself of being with any sense of background of any form of social rebellion, I think it has more to do with the stresses of society in a modern Japan, that definitely comes into it, but I definitely would not say that violence is necessarily associated de facto with the many hundreds of thousands of people who are living in hikikomori social withdrawal, alone in the home.

Q: But how do other people in Japan respond to this? Are they very resentful of the hikikomori?

I don't think there is any aspect of people being regarded here with resentment. I don't think that there is a perception which might happen in other countries, such as say, seeing people as being parasites on welfare systems, because that is simply not the way 'it is. I think the movie "Home" has been one thing which has helped along with a great deal of very hard work and conscientious efforts on behalf of both voluntary groups and mental health care professionals such as doctors, social workers and counselors to bring about greater public awareness of the problem, and as this awareness grows there is much more sympathy for these young people rather than resentment.

Japanese Mental Health Online Articles: 200211 Hikikomori Social Withdrawal in Japan (Text currently under revision)


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