IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/socpsy/v56y2010i2p178-185.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A New Form of Social Withdrawal in Japan: a Review of Hikikomori

Author

Listed:
  • Alan R. Teo

    (Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, Box 0984-RTP, 401 Parnassus Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94143-0984, USA, alan.teo@stanfordalumni.org)

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to provide a clinical review of a unique, emerging form of severe social withdrawal that has been described in Japan. This paper begins with a case vignette, then reviews the case defi nition, epidemiology, psychopathology, differential diagnosis, and treatment and management of the condition. Called hikikomori , it is well known to both the psychiatric community and general public in Japan but it has never been reviewed in the English medical literature. Patients are mostly adolescent and young adult men who become recluses in their parents’ homes for months or years. They withdraw from contact with family, rarely have friends, and do not attend school or hold a job. Never described before the late 1970s, hikikomori has become a silent epidemic with tens, perhaps hundreds, of thousands of cases now estimated in Japan. The differential diagnosis includes anxiety and personality disorders, but current nosology in the Diagnostic and Statistic Manual of Mental Disorders may not adequately capture the concept of hikikomori . Treatment strategies are varied and lack a solid evidence base, but often include milieu, family, and exposure therapy. Much further research, including population-based and prospective studies, needs to be conducted to characterize and provide an evidence base for treatment of this condition.

Suggested Citation

  • Alan R. Teo, 2010. "A New Form of Social Withdrawal in Japan: a Review of Hikikomori," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 56(2), pages 178-185, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:56:y:2010:i:2:p:178-185
    DOI: 10.1177/0020764008100629
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0020764008100629
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0020764008100629?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Silvia Rita Sedita, 2022. "Dal codice enigma al metaverso recensione a l?ascesa della societ? algoritmica," ECONOMIA E SOCIET? REGIONALE, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 0(1), pages 157-160.
    2. Michelle Jin Yee Neoh & Alessandro Carollo & Mengyu Lim & Gianluca Esposito, 2023. "Hikikomori: A Scientometric Review of 20 Years of Research," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(9), pages 1-19, April.
    3. John W. M. Yuen & Yoyo K. Y. Yan & Victor C. W. Wong & Wilson W. S. Tam & Ka-Wing So & Wai Tong Chien, 2018. "A Physical Health Profile of Youths Living with a “Hikikomori” Lifestyle," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-13, February.
    4. Naoji Kondo & Motohiro Sakai & Yasukazu Kuroda & Yoshikazu Kiyota & Yuji Kitabata & Mie Kurosawa, 2013. "General condition of hikikomori (prolonged social withdrawal) in Japan: Psychiatric diagnosis and outcome in mental health welfare centres," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 59(1), pages 79-86, February.
    5. à ngeles Malagón-Amor & David Córcoles-Martínez & Luis M Martín-López & Víctor Pérez-SolÃ, 2015. "Hikikomori in Spain: A descriptive study," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 61(5), pages 475-483, August.
    6. Or Hareven & Tamar Kron & David Roe & Danny Koren, 2022. "The scope and nature of prolonged social withdrawal in Israel: An initial quantitative and qualitative investigation," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 68(2), pages 301-308, March.
    7. Yura Loscalzo & Cristian Nannicini & I-Ting Huai-Ching Liu & Marco Giannini, 2022. "Hikikomori Risk Inventory (HRI-24): A new instrument for evaluating Hikikomori in both Eastern and Western countries," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 68(1), pages 90-107, February.
    8. Coeli, Gianluca & Planas-Lladó, Anna & Soler-Masó, Pere, 2023. "The relevance of educational contexts in the emergence of Social Withdrawal (hikikomori). A review and directions for future research," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    9. Santiago Ovejero & Irene Caro-Cañizares & Victoria de León-Martínez & Enrique Baca-Garcia, 2014. "Prolonged social withdrawal disorder: A hikikomori case in Spain," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 60(6), pages 562-565, September.
    10. Alexander Krieg & Jane R. Dickie, 2013. "Attachment and hikikomori: A psychosocial developmental model," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 59(1), pages 61-72, February.
    11. Ventre, Viviana & Martino, Roberta & Cruz Rambaud, Salvador & Maturo, Fabrizio & Porreca, Annamaria, 2024. "An original approach to anomalies in intertemporal choices through functional data analysis: Theory and application for the study of Hikikomori syndrome," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    12. Hiromi Taniguchi & Gayle Kaufman, 2019. "Self-Construal, Social Support, and Loneliness in Japan," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 14(4), pages 941-960, September.
    13. Alan R Teo, 2013. "Social isolation associated with depression: A case report of hikikomori," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 59(4), pages 339-341, June.
    14. Paul WC Wong & Tim MH Li & Melissa Chan & YW Law & Michael Chau & Cecilia Cheng & KW Fu & John Bacon-Shone & Paul SF Yip, 2015. "The prevalence and correlates of severe social withdrawal (hikikomori) in Hong Kong: A cross-sectional telephone-based survey study," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 61(4), pages 330-342, June.
    15. Alessandra Santona & Francesca Lionetti & Giacomo Tognasso & Chiara Fusco & Graziana Maccagnano & Danila Barreca & Laura Gorla, 2023. "Sensitivity and Attachment in an Italian Sample of Hikikomori Adolescents and Young Adults," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(12), pages 1-14, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:56:y:2010:i:2:p:178-185. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.