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When I was growing up in New York City, it never occurred to me to stay inside the house all day. The city was vibrant, alive, and filled with adventure. I hated being a kid. I couldn’t wait to grow up and explore the world. I wanted to shake hands with everybody in the world.
As the years rolled by, musicians from the Grand Ole Opry were edged out by the Woodstock era, which segued into The Beatles, then disco, then rap. And from out of nowhere, social media, streaming music and movies descended upon us. Then COVID ambushed the planet. I yearned for the “old” days, but there was no turning back: I can’t become a hermit.
Hermit or eremite means solitary and is a person who lives in seclusion. Hermit denotes anyone living apart from society or having entirely or in part withdrawn from society for any reason. In the Christian tradition, the eremitic life was an early form of monastic living. The first Christian hermits appeared by the end of the third century in Egypt. Today as then, we live in a very tense society. We are pulled apart and some people are filled with fear and anguish.
Hikikomori is a person spending six months or longer outside of society, as defined by the Japanese psychologist Tamaki Saito who first coined the term back in 1998. Hikikomori do not participate in society and within the guidelines defined by Saito, do so without mental illness being the main cause. At the time, Dr. Saito estimated the Japanese hikikomori population could be as high as 2 million, with the average duration that a hikikomori shutting themselves away being around 13 years.
Hikikomori is global silent epidemic. Hikikomori, or social recluses, are people who do not go out for work or school and rarely interact with people outside of their family circle. Originally, hikikomori syndrome was thought to be unique to Japan, according to a 2021 research paper analyzing psychopathology in youth by State Frontiers in Psychiatry. Today, cases of hikikomori hare widespread globally to all countries including France, Oman, Spain, Brazil and the U.S.
The same study states that various diagnoses were given, indicating many psychiatrists believe that hikikomori is an outcome behavior of a given disorder that requires treatment. In Japan, almost half of the cases presented to health centers get diagnosed. Among these, one-third of the subjects are diagnosed with schizophrenia, mood disorders, or anxiety disorders. Analyses revealed that negative interpersonal relationships were significantly associated with hikikomori, followed by suicide risks. Hikikomori people are more likely to be male, have a history of dropping out from education, and have a previous psychiatric treatment history. However, females accounted for 51.4 percent of the social recluses.
In Edogawa Ward alone, officials found that over 600,000 middle-aged residents lived as shut-ins in 2022, the Asahi Shimbun reported.
According to the Akita University Graduate School of Medicine in Japan, 90 percent of hikikomori live with their families. Japan is also facing a social phenomenon referred to as the “8050 problem,” which involves 80-year-olds providing their 50-year-old children financial support. The reasons which lead hikikomori to abandon society and stay home vary, according to Akita University researchers, including job-related problems, not fitting in at work, failures in job hunting, bullying and power harassment.
There is a big difference between living alone and being socially isolated and lonely. Choosing to be isolated is a result of different causes and conditions. Being isolated is unpleasant. If you're a loner, you'd rather take a walk in the woods by yourself than go to a party. An extreme kind of loner is a hermit, a person who lives far from society, completely alone, and doesn’t interact with anyone. Hmmm, I’m a writer, so am I part loner - part hermit? Introvert? Which are you? What is your social psychological profile?
“Loneliness expresses the pain of being alone, and solitude expresses the glory of being alone.” ~ Paul Tillich. The more your mind is closed the more fear you will experience. Don’t get lost in your pain. A lack of human affection leads to diminished mental health. Look inside yourself. Absolute silence leads to sadness. Practice being social. Smile. Get your hugs in.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hilary Valdez is a freelancer living in Tokyo, Japan. He is an experienced Mental Health professional and Resiliency Trainer. Valdez is a former Marine and has worked with the military most of his career and most recently worked at Camp Zama as a Master Resiliency Trainer. Valdez now has a private practice and publishes books on social and psychological issues. His books are available on Amazon and for Kindle. Learn more about Valdez and contact him at his website or email. Follow his YouTube channel Hilary’s Quick Talk for more insights.
