Epidemic of Loneliness in a Digital Society: Hikikomori as a Cultural and Psychological Phenomenon

The article discusses the problem of desocialization, namely, loneliness at a young age in relation to the hikikomori phenomenon. Hikikomori are young people who have not left their parental home for at least 6 months, have no friends, refuse to study and work and are not in contact with their closest relatives. This kind of loneliness manifests most vividly in Japan. A number of Japanese psychiatrists believe that hikikomori suffer from a previously non-diagnosed mental disease specific to the Japanese culture. The peculiarities of socialization processes characteristic of the Japanese society are considered. We analyze the specifics of hikikomori’s application of digital technologies, namely, their use of the Net for communication and information exchange. While hikikomori shy away from traditional socializing, they accept digital socializing and socialize more than their peers did before the digital era. Conclusion: mental health professionals are going to come across more young people identifying themselves as hikikomori and adopting their lifestyle if only in some ways.

1. Klinenberg E. Zhizn’ solo: Novaya sotsial’naya real’nost’ [Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone]. Moscow: Al’pina non-fikshn, 2014. 284 p. (In Russ.).
2. Pokrovskii N.E. (ed.). Labirinty odinochestva [ Labyrinths of solitude]. Moscow: Progress, 1989. 624 p.
3. Molodyakov V.E. Rasteryannoe pokolenie: starye i novye problemy yaponskoi molodezhi [Confused generation: old and new problems of Japanese youths]. In Strel’tsov D.V. (ed.). Yaponiya: ekonomika i obshchestvo v okeane problem [Japan: economics and society in the ocean of problems]. Moscow: Institut vostokovedeniya RAN; Assotsiatsiya yaponovedov; Yaponskii fond, 2012, pp. 114—126.
4. Nagornova A.Yu. Kharakteristika tsennostei yaponskoi molodezhi i sindrom khikikamori [Characteristics of values of Japanese youths and a hikikomori syndrome]. Sotsial’naya kompetentnost’ [ Social Competence], 2018. Vol. 3 (3), pp. 84—88.
5. Nanivskaya V.T. Sistema “moral’nogo vospitaniya” v yaponskoi shkole [The system of “moral education” in the Japanese school]. In Goreglyad V.N., Grivnin V.S. (eds.). Yaponiya: ideologiya, kul’tura, literatura [Japan: ideology, culture, literature]. Moscow: Mysl’, 1989, pp. 69—75.
6. Novikova O.S. Vozrastnaya identichnost’ v sovremennoi Yaponii — sotsial’no-filosofskii aspekt [Age Identity in Modern Japan — Socio-Philosophical Aspects]. Idei i idealy [Ideas and Ideals], 2018. Vol. 2 (4), pp. 207—218. doi:10.17212/2075- 0862-2018-4.2-207-218
7. Poznina N.A., Kolomoets I.V. Fenomen khikikomori v sovremennom obshchestve [Phenomenon of hikikomori in modern society]. Obrazovanie. Nauka. Innovatsii: Yuzhnoe izmerenie [Education. The Science. Innovation: The Southern Dimension], 2014. Vol. 2 (34), pp. 178—183.
8. Thoreau H.D. Uolden, ili Zhizn’ v lesu [Walden; or, Life in the Woods]. Moscow: Izdatel’stvo Akademii nauk SSSR, 1962. 240 p. (In Russ.).
9. Toffler A. Futuroshok [Future Shock]. Saint Petersburg: Lan’, 1997. 461 p. (In Russ.).
10. Ueda K. Prestupnost’ i kriminologiya v sovremennoi Yaponii [Crime and criminology in modern Japan]. Moscow: Progress, 1989. 256 p. (In Russ.).
11. Erikson E. Identichnost’: yunost’ i krizis [Identity: youth and crisis]. Moscow: Progress, 1996. 214 p. (In Russ.).
12. Bowker M.H. Hikikomori as disfigured desire: Indulgence, mystification, and victimization in the phenomenon of extreme social isolation in Japan [Elektronnyi resurs]. Journal of Psycho-Social Studies, 2016. Vol. 9 (1), pp. 20—52. Available at: http://www.psychosocial-studies-association.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/ Matthew-Bowker-Hikikomori-as-Disfugured-Desire.pdf (Accessed 5.06.2019).
13. Chauliac N., Couillet A., Faivre S., et al. Characteristics of socially withdrawn youth in France: A retrospective study. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 2017. Vol. 63 (4), pp. 339—344. doi:10.1177/0020764017704474
14. Dubas J.S., Petersen A.C. Geographical distance from parents and adjustment during adolescence and young adulthood. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 1996. Vol. 1996 (71), pp. 3—19. doi:10.1002/cd.23219967103
15. Furlong A. The Japanese hikikomori phenomenon: Acute social withdrawal among young people. The Sociological Review, 2008. Vol. 56 (2), pp. 309—325. doi:10.1111/ j.1467-954X.2008.00790.x
16. Husu H.-M., Välimäki V. Staying inside: social withdrawal of the young, Finnish ‘Hikikomori’. Journal of Youth Studies, 2017. Vol. 20 (5), pp. 605—621. doi:10.1080 /13676261.2016.1254167
17. Hayakawa K., Kato T.A., Watabe M., et al. Blood biomarkers of Hikikomori, a severe social withdrawal syndrome [Elektronnyi resurs]. Scientific Reports, 2018. Vol. 8 (1). Available at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-21260-w (Accessed 5.06.2019). doi:10.1038/s41598-018-21260-w
18. Horiguchi S. Are children who do not go to school “bad”, “sick” or “happy”?: Shifting interpretations of long-term school non-attendance in post-war Japan. In Yonezawa A., Kitamura Y., Yamamoto B., et al. (eds.). Japanese Education in a Global Age. Sociological Reflections and Future Directions. Singapore: Springer, 2018, pp. 117—136.
19. Kato T.A., Kanba S., Teo A.R. Hikikomori: experience in Japan and international relevance. World Psychiatry, 2018. Vol. 17 (1), pp. 105—106. doi:10.1002/ wps.20497
20. Katsuki R., Inoue A., Indias S., et al. Clarifying deeper psychological characteristics of hikikomori using the Rorschach Comprehensive System: A Pilot Case-Control Study [Elektronnyi resurs]. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 2019. Vol. 10. Available at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00412/full (Accessed 10.06.2019). doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00412
21. Krieg A., Dickie J.R. Attachment and hikikomori: A psychosocial developmental model. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 2013. Vol. 59 (1), pp. 61—72. doi:10.1177/0020764011423182
22. Li T.M., Wong P.W. Youth social withdrawal behavior (hikikomori): A systematic review of qualitative and quantitative studies. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 2015. Vol. 49 (7), pp. 595—609. doi:10.1177/0004867415581179
23. Ovejero S., Caro-Cañizares I., de León-Martínez V., et al. Prolonged social withdrawal disorder: A hikikomori case in Spain. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 2014. Vol. 60 (6), pp. 562—565. doi:10.1177/0020764013504560
24. Pereira-Sanchez V., Alvarez-Mon M.A., Asunsolo del Barco A., et al. Exploring the extent of the hikikomori phenomenon on Twitter: Mixed methods study of western language tweets [Elektronnyi resurs]. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 2019. Vol. 21 (5). Available at: https://www.jmir.org/2019/5/e14167/ (Accessed 20.06.2019). doi:10.2196/14167
25. Saito T. Hikikomori: Adolescence Without End. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 2013. 216 р.
26. Stavropoulos V., Anderson E.E., Beard C., et al. A preliminary cross-cultural study of Hikikomori and Internet Gaming Disorder: The moderating effects of game-playing time and living with parents [Elektronnyi resurs]. Addictive Behaviors Reports, 2019. Vol. 9. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/ pii/S2352853218300877 (Accessed 15.07.2019). doi:10.1016/j.abrep.2018.10.001
27. Stip E., Thibault A., Beauchamp-Chatel A., et al. Internet Addiction, Hikikomori Syndrome, and the Prodromal Phase of Psychosis [Elektronnyi resurs]. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 2016. Vol. 7. Available at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/ fpsyt.2016.00006/full (Accessed 5.06.2019). doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2016.00006
28. Suwa M., Suzuki K. The phenomenon of “hikikomori” (social withdrawal) and the socio-cultural situation in Japan today. Journal of Psychopathology, 2013. Vol. 19, pp. 191—198.
29. Tajan N. Social withdrawal and psychiatry: A comprehensive review of Hikikomori. Neuropsychiatrie de l’Enfance et de l’Adolescence, 2015. Vol. 63 (5), pp. 324—331. doi:10.1016/j.neurenf.2015.03.008
30. Tateno M., Park T.W., Kato T.A., et al. Hikikomori as a possible clinical term in psychiatry: a questionnaire survey [Elektronnyi resurs]. BMC Psychiatry, 2012. Vol. 12 (1). Available at: https://bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/ articles/10.1186/1471-244X-12-169 (Accessed 19.05.2019). doi:10.1186/1471- 244X-12-169
31. Tateno M., Teo A.R., Ukai W., et al. Internet Addiction, Smartphone Addiction, and Hikikomori Trait in Japanese Young Adult: Social Isolation and Social Network [Elektronnyi resurs]. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 2019. Vol. 10. Available at: https:// www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00455/full (Accessed 20.07.2019). doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00455
32. Teo A.R., Gaw A.C. Hikikomori, a Japanese Culture-Bound Syndrome of Social Withdrawal?: A Proposal for DSM-5. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 2010. Vol. 198 (6), pp. 444—449. doi:10.1097/NMD.0b013e3181e086b1
33. Teo A.R., Fetters M.D., Stufflebam K., et al. Identification of the hikikomori syndrome of social withdrawal: Psychosocial features and treatment preferences in four countries. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 2015. Vol. 61 (1), pp. 64— 72. doi:10.1177/0020764014535758
34. Teo A.R., Chen J.I., Kubo H., et al. Development and validation of the 25-item Hikikomori Questionnaire (HQ-25). Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, 2018. Vol. 72 (10), pp. 780—788. doi:10.1111/pcn.12691
35. Turkle S. Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other. New York: Basic Books, 2010. 360 р.
36. Umeda M., Kawakami N. Association of childhood family environments with the risk of social withdrawal (‘hikikomori’) in the community population in Japan. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, 2012. Vol. 66 (2), pp. 121—129. doi:10.1111/ j.1440-1819.2011.02292.x
37. Wong P.W., Li T.M., Chan M., et al. The prevalence and correlates of severe social withdrawal (hikikomori) in Hong Kong: A cross-sectional telephone-based survey study. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 2015. Vol. 61 (4), pp. 330—342. doi:10.1177/0020764014543711
38. Yuen J.W.M., Yan Y.K.Y., Wong V.C.W., et al. A Physical Health Profile of Youths Living with a “Hikikomori” Lifestyle [Elektronnyi resurs]. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2018. Vol. 15 (2). Available at: https:// www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/4/546/htm (Accessed 21.05.2019). doi:10.3390/ ijerph15020315