Hikikomori - They Just Don't Leave Their Rooms. Ever.
February 6th 2009 01:01
Hikikomori is a social phenomenon which captured worldwide attention for around the past 10 years or so. The English equivalent term would be "social withdrawal". Basically what happens is that a person just snaps one day, returns home and locks themselves in a room and stay in there. In many cases, for years on end.
To better illustrate the Hikikomori, I'll use a case study from BBC.
Hiroshi Sasaki (video link).
After having troubles with school, he gradually played truant. However, eventually this led to him shutting himself in his room for over 2-3 years. He sleeps all day and stays up all night. As a result, he has very, very limited contact with his parents - whom he lives with.
How do his parents perceive this? They appear to blame themselves rather than their son (video link). They emphasise that it was because they had pressured him too much to study. As a result, he collapsed under the pressure and resorted to shutting himself in to escape.
However, this is only one of a diverse range of cases. There are many others where the causes were things such bullying, shattered romances and unemployment.
During the past few years when there was plenty of media coverage, there was plenty of speculation about the causes. After all, the symptoms were easy enough to identify.
From what I gather, there seems to be a link between hikikomori cases and pressure/stress itself. Whatever adversities these people face, and often face alone, would no doubt place them under significant amounts of pressure/stress. It sort of paints the image that a person is being continuously cornered in life and has no idea of how to get themselves out of it. Then, when they have the opportunity to run - they run and hide. Perhaps running away and hiding is easier than enduring. Thus, locking themselves away becomes habitual.
And habits are hard to break.
The response to the hikikomori epidemic has been mixed.
Some claim that there were around 1 million male sufferers. If this was the case, then that means around 1 percent of Japan's population is suffering from this psychological disorder. Other statistics claim that around 80% of hikikomori sufferers were male, the rest were female. However, no matter how much I research the facts and figures, it all appears sketchy. The only way researchers can really tell how many cases there are is if people report them. So even if 1 million cases were reported, how many are left unreported? Meanwhile, others claim that the number of cases are limited to the hundreds of thousands.
Nonetheless, the problem appears to be widespread and something which the authorities should perhaps look into.
From cases like that of Masayuki Okuyama, hikikomori sufferers not only hurt themselves in the long run (by further isolating themselves from society), they hurt their families too. In Okuyama's case, his son Youichi became recluse at the age of 15. After refusing to leave the house, he turned violent towards his own parents. Even assaulting his father while his father slept on the sofa. Okuyama even quotes his son saying: "Please die. I want to claim your life insurance money. So die."
While the hikikomori are more anti-social than violent, the longer the problem is left alone, the riskier the situation becomes.
Parents often simply "wait-it-out" hoping that it's just a phase their children will grow out of. Some may seek counseling but all measures taken are just as passive. Even worse perhaps, is the attitude that families often feel "ashamed" if one of them becomes a hikikomori. They would internalise the problem and refuse to seek help.
With a lack of communication between parents and hikikomori sufferers, the problem becomes like a kettle waiting to boil over and screech.
In past, there have been hikikomori related crimes. An extreme case being the "Niigata girl confinement incident" where a 17 year old male hikikomori kidnapped a 10 year old girl. He confined her in his apartment room for 9 years.
People may accuse the hikikomori of being psychos or even blame their families for not seeking help sooner. However, how to help those where there is little understanding (due to lack of communication) is difficult. However, the solution isn't impossible. It takes time yes, but it also takes effort and effective communication.
Interestingly enough, due to the uprising of the hikikomori epidemic, an industry has bloomed. Specialist counseling services have opened up to help hikikomori sufferers recover and reintegrate into society.
Meanwhile, tofugu.com reports an interesting "Stare Therapy" DVD. The DVD aims to help the socially awkward to "adapt" to having people stare at them - which may hopefully encourage them to get over the fear that they are constantly being judged. Basically, the DVD contains several short videos of women staring into the camera / at you. What "clients" do is select a video and endure the stare for up to a minute.
So, what do you fellow readers make of this?
Is it perplexing as such cases rarely occur in Western society? Isolated hikikomori cases have been reported in other Asian countries such as Korea, Taiwan and China. Personally, I hope that specialists will be able to find some way to help sufferers recover faster or easier.
After all, imagine spending 5 years of your life locked up alone in a room. The fact that many of the victims are children or teenagers makes it even sadder to imagine a good portion of their childhood is... wasted away.
For further reading, check out New York Times' article: Shutting Themselves In.
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Comment by D. Armenta
The Florida Keys and Everglades
The Black Sheep Chronicles
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Debate Fan
L.A.M.P.
True isolationism is a symptom of depression; it is treatable with meds. Therapy alone doesn't work.
Great work, very interesting articles. Thanks!
Comment by Norm
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Footy Power
Thanks.