Over the past years, in many countries of the world, the phenomenon of the isolation of adolescents and young people in their rooms for months, and perhaps even years, during which they play out mixing with society, without obvious reasons.
This phenomenon, called Hikikimori, is no longer confined to Japan, which began in the 1990s, but has become a worldwide problem.
So many countries around the world began to take care of it. The specialists - psychologists, sociologists and anthropologists - conducted studies in the United States, Spain, Canada, Oman, Brazil, Italy and France.
Hikikimori means self-containment, staying indoors and out of the house, and the Japanese invented it in the 1990s to express those teenagers and young people who refuse any contact with those who are out of their homes for a long time.
This phenomenon - due to some specialists due to school pressure and harsh work environment - is a real challenge for the Japanese authorities, especially as it affects hundreds of thousands of young people in this country, which is already aging population.
In some countries, this phenomenon is called "social withdrawal, school dropout, social phobia", according to a report by Adrian Giotto in the French newspaper Le Figaro.
Causes and motives
This behavior prompted specialists to ask questions such as: Why are these young people isolated inside their homes, abandoning their friends, studies and projects of their lives? How do their families live?
Many specialists believe that this phenomenon is limited to males, because females - according to the psychiatrist d. Marie-Jean-Gédég Bourdeau - do not hide if they feel that they are not well, which questioned the sociologist Maya Fasten, who believes that the survival of women in the home of her family normal and does not draw attention usually, but does not deny that some girls infected with this phobia.
"He is not a student, an employee or a trainee. He is a person who no longer wants anything. This does not mean that he is in contradiction with himself, but rather lives a kind of passive resistance," according to Bourdieu.
Hikikomori often spends his day behind a chat screen, playing electronic games or creating computer programs, but some spend time reading, drawing, researching, and documenting specific topics.
However, contrary to popular belief, the Internet is not the cause of abuse, but rather a means of shortening the long days. Some may resort to social networks that enable them to stay in touch with the rest of the world and break the unity.
Graduation and withdrawal is usually gradual, starting with occasional absence from the school, which develops into isolation in the room during the school holidays, sometimes followed by a return to school for a period and then a total withdrawal and turning to Hikikimori.