Since the Coronavirus reached pandemic proportions back in March, the lives of many people have been changed beyond recognition. Even people who are not among the old and the sickly have had to undergo the stressors of lockdown. Quarantine, currently the only weapon we have against the virus, is not without its own drawbacks.
Fear of getting infected aside, the economic disasters caused by the pandemic and ensuing joblessness, and the mental issues that result are also taking a toll on the global population. Apart from a few lucky countries like New Zealand, most of the countries on the planet are still in different stages of lockdown. The daily news blasting the death toll and other tragedies that go along with the news cycle also cause a feeling of dread amongst the socially deprived and unemployed populace.
The very real fear of inadequate supplies, anxiety, and anger, PTSD, the increased domestic violence, frustration, boredom, isolation, are all the result of quarantine and lockdown. Even if one is adequately supplied and has income, the absence of a set routine and social contact is enough to cause an increase in anxiety and depression that leads to other problems like substance and alcohol abuse.
In any case, COVID-19 and the resulting lockdown have impacted the lives of most people on the planet. For most of us, it has been immense torture, even if we are not likely to contract a lethal case of the virus and are relatively healthy.
However, there is a whole community(?) of people that live completely isolated from society. And not for a few months only, but for some, years- the Hikikomori.
What are the Hikikomori?
The word Hikikomori has Japanese origins. This is mainly because this phenomenon has mainly been observed and researched in Japan. It is most prevalent in Japan due to its unique social and cultural environment that leads to the trend of individuals becoming Hikikomori.
A quick google translate reveals that Hikikomori means “social withdrawal”. It means, literally, “pulling inwards” or “being confined”. The word both refers to the phenomenon of acute social withdrawal as well as the individual doing so.
The Hikikomori are hermits or recluses. Individuals, generally young men, who withdraw from society and live alone, mainly indoors. They stay in their parents homes and refuse to go to school or work. Multiple studies have been done on the Hikikomori in Japan and even though many of these cases can be classified as existing mental conditions, there are some cases that can not be classified as anything other than a Hikikomori.
As of yet it has not been classified as a separate psychological illness, but it can be viewed as an alarming social trend at least. Even though the term Hikikomori is relatively new, the idea of a social recluse and the emerging trend of social hermits refusing to go to work or school or even outdoors was referenced by Kasahara in 1978. He then had used the term taikyaku shinkeishou to describe cases of “withdrawal neuroses”.
This has been largely dubbed as a social phenomenon in Japan, but what exactly causes one to become a Hikikimori?
What is a Hikikomori?
In 2003, The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare set forward the criteria for establishing whether an individual could be classified as Hikikomori:
Life centered at home, no interest or willingness to attend school or work, this has to go on for a period of at least six months. Exclusion of other mental disorders. Exclusion of those with friends and personal relationships.
This definition was further defined by the national research task-force as
“the state of avoiding social engagement (e.g., education, employment, and friendships) with generally persistent withdrawal into one’s residence for at least six months as a result of various factors.”
According to some researchers in Okinawa, there could be about 410,000 Hikikomori in Japan. This study was done around 2008. Currently, the figure stands around 1.5 Million, and according to Saita Takami, the lead researcher on this matter, this figure could rise to 10 Million quite soon.
What causes the Hikikomori phenomenon?
These shut-ins have also been linked to criminality as well, with there being a few cases of violent crime like stabbings and kidnappings that result from individuals that are Hikikimori “lashing out at the society that they see has forced them to withdraw”.
However, Mr Saito Takami sees this as a different matter. According to him, this is truly the fault of modern Japanese society rather than that of the young men that withdraw from society altogether. The high amount of competition in Japanese school systems and in their Job Market works to build pressure on individuals.
This feeling of “not being good enough” eventually drives these individuals out of society altogether. It is not a mental illness or violent tendencies that make a Hikikomori, but a slow disconnection from society on an individual’s own accord. This then gets perpetuated by feelings of shame and isolation and it becomes more and more difficult for the individual to get back into the fold of society as they age.
This horrifying phenomenon might not just be a Japanese issue, however. In the future as people around the globe enter the global job market at such a saturated rate and technology continues to develop, this phenomenon might also become global.
Hikikomori out of Japan.
In 2011 an article was published that detailed the study carried out to determine whether other countries also faced the issue of Hikikomori. There have been similar cases reported in Oman, Korea, Australia, and the United States as well.
Even though in Korea, the trend seems to be more of people seeking the solace of cyber cafes and gaming centers to escape from their own expectations, and that of their family and society.
In the United States, there has been a conflagration of cases of “Incel” groups sprouting up on online platforms and in the news as well. Even though these cases can not be defined strictly as Hikikimori considering that many of these individuals have existing mental disorders or have online groups where they exchange ideas but the main idea is the same. These are also mostly young men who have withdrawn into their own shells and away from society. They live alone or in their family’s house in a state of codependency with their guardians and mostly just exist online.
In Conclusion
The alarming trend of having young men who are supposed to be in the prime of their lives outrightly withdrawing from society is not just local to Japan. Apparently social and technological factors are causing individuals to become shut-ins cut off from society.
The trend can be seen that this phenomenon can be found mainly among individuals from developed countries.
It seems that humanity has to devise new cultural norms and societal structures that are able to withstand the brunt of technological advancement and ensure that humanity is not driven out of us, rendering us all alone in a world filled to the brim with Hikikomori.
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