The film "1000 ways to describe rain" drew attention to a phenomenon called Hikikomori in 2018. We explain what is behind it here.
The corona crisis has forced many people to spend a lot of time at home and also messed up their work-life balance. However, there are people who voluntarily enter into social isolation – long before Corona. In Japan they have their own name: Hikikomori.
What does hikikomori mean?
The phenomenon and the term come from Japan and stand for social withdrawal, isolation in your own home for 6 months, sometimes for years. Those affected do not or only rarely leave their apartment or their room, at most they see their family and shy away from contact with others, except perhaps in virtual chats. Often they still live at home with their parents in adulthood, who continue to care for them.
Reasons for social withdrawal unclear
Why people choose isolation has not really been explored. The reason is believed to be the high expectations in society that overwhelm people. As reported by Deutschlandfunk Kultur, the trained nurse and founder of the aid organization "Hidamari", Miho Goto, Bullying and family problems as common triggers, possibly followed by depression. With her organization she tries to help the Hikikomori and to offer them a contact point to slowly get back into social life.
Basic traits and psychiatric factors
The phenomenon has not yet been extensively researched. The two scientists Roseline Yong and Kyoko Nomura evaluated a study with over 3200 test subjects between 15 and 39 years, who were randomly selected from 200 different locations in Japan. Accordingly, the Hikikomori criteria applied to about 1.8 percent (58) of the participants, 41 percent of whom had lived as a Hikikomori for more than three years. At 65.5 percent, the proportion of men was significantly higher than the proportion of women.
The two found out the following about the associated basic characteristics of the Hikikomori:
- The Hikikomoris were more likely to drop out of school,
- rather had psychiatric treatments,
- have a higher risk of suicide as a non-hikikomori,
- are also rather prone to addictions and
- to have Difficulties in interpersonal relationships. Around half said they were afraid of meeting people they know (48.3 percent) or afraid of what people think of them (51.7 percent).
But these participants are only a part of the phenomenon: The number of hermits, regardless of age, is estimated to be a total over one million. And it's not a Japanese problem. Cases are already known from different parts of the world, e.g. B. from Oman, Spain, Canada, France, Brazil and the United States of America.
Hikikomori in Germany?
It is unclear whether and how many extreme hermits there are in Germany. In this country it will be more of a Social phobia diagnosed when people z. B. avoid interpersonal contacts out of fear or they are afraid to speak and eat in public or shy away from other interactions with strangers. This can lead to avoidance behavior, such as finding excuses not to have to leave the house. In Germany around 1.7 million people are affected by a social phobia (as of 2015). It is often treated with psychotherapy and medication. In addition, those affected can find an overview of self-help groups on the website of the Self-Help Association for Social Phobia (VSSP e.V.).
sources
Deutschlandfunk culture
frontiersin.org
gbe-bund.de