Post 9: Hikikomori

  There are some situations where you mess up quite badly to the point that you just want to hide yourself away from the rest of the world. Other times, people are so stressed out about their problems that they just wan't to break away from real life, and live a solitary life.

 In Japan, there is such phenomenon prevalent even today, and it's called hikikomori. The term hikikomori means "pulling inward" or "withdrawal". This is a culture-bound syndrome wherein the person shuts himself within their own rooms in a period longer than six months and isolates themselves from society. There a lot of factors that contribute to their behavior. Some were bullied and were unhappy with their school life, other could not take the pressure of finding a proper job, or at least struggle to fit in the economic flow. The Japanese school system is said to be strict with youths, and putting in a pass-or-fail ideology which induces a high level of stress.

According to an article by Micheal Grisafe, entitled "Can Culture Create Mental Disease? The Rise of “Hikikomori” in the Wake of Economic Downturn in Japan" that hikkikomori is not an act of rebellion due to the ideology, but an act of opposing the core values of Japanese work and social ethic.

"This topic has grown increasingly urgent in Japan as the so-called “first-generation” of hikikomori who have been living with their parents for the past 20 years approaches 40. Many worry not only for the fate of these aging hikikomori, but the social and economic consequences for Japan as the hikikomori’s parents retire and pass away. As their parents die off, Japan may be faced with the very real problem of integrating a large population of socially disengaged and unskilled individuals into society."

The phenomenon is growing ever so slowly, but this is something that should be given immediate action. If society don't take a step in helping these people that have cracked under pressure, then it will certainly affect the country in the near future.