Hikikomori, the syndrome that appeared in Japan and is spreading throughout the world

He hikikomori It is a condition characterized by physical isolation or social withdrawal sustained for a period of more than six months. It was first defined in Japan in 1998 and, although it was thought to be a syndrome “linked to culture Specific to this country, recent data has shown a marked growth of this phenomenon worldwide. And researchers and medical professionals also fear that the recent coronavirus pandemic COVID-19[feminine has compounded the increase in the number of hikikomori patients worldwide and is becoming a global phenomenon.

Today, researchers from Kyushu University (Japan) have developed a new tool to help doctors and researchers around the world assess pathological social withdrawal, known as hikikomori . The tool, called Hikikomori Diagnostic Evaluation (HiDE) can be a practical guide for collecting information on this pathology which is developing throughout the world.

However, there is still no standardized tool to identify the pathology. hikikomori . The new assessment tool Hide developed by Associate Professor Takahiro A. Kato, of Higher School of Medical Sciences published in the magazine Global Psychiatry is intended to be the next step in a cross-cultural tool that helps identify and assess individuals hikikomori.

In 2013, Kyushu University Hospital established the world’s first outpatient clinic for hikikomori in hopes of studying the pathology and finding better treatment methods. Over the years, Kato and his team have developed different methods for the early detection of hikikomori and they even studied possible biomarkers of the pathology.

“HiDE is a questionnaire that we developed in our clinic at the university hospital. We’ve perfected it over the years, and today it takes about 5 to 20 minutes, depending on the responses, Kato says. It is mainly divided into two sections. In the first, the characteristics of the patient’s behavior are analyzed to see if they present hikikomori . The second section helps us contextualize the patient’s degree of social withdrawal.

The team also added a screening form to the HiDE in case clinicians run out of time to administer the full tool. They suggest that the full questionnaire be administered to patients who respond that they “spend one hour or less per day away from home, at least three days per week” and that “it bothers their family, other people or personally” .

“The HiDE has proven to be an indispensable tool for the structured assessment of pathological social withdrawal in our clinical practice and in research, but more empirical studies need to be conducted to assess its validity beyond our practice,” concludes Kato . We would like our colleagues around the world to use it so that we can work on perfecting the tool. Hikikomori is becoming a global phenomenon and a collective effort to recognize and treat hikikomori will be vital,” he warns.