Hikikomori

A combination of excessive gaming and social pressures in causing more young people to retreat to their bedrooms in the Japanese problem hikikomori.

Hikikomori is a phenomenon in Japan where reclusive individuals choose to withdraw from social life and seek out extreme forms of isolation.

Often this begins with a traumatic event in the outside world and the individual seeks the sanctuary of their room and computer where they will not be judged by the online community.

They sleep during the day and are awake at night where they play games and socialise only with their gaming friends. For these people, online games provide their only outlet for socialisation. However, it can also be these games which encourage the players to retreat from the outside world and real relationships in the first place.
It is a national problem in Japan with recognition from the government and action plans in place to help prevent more youths from retreating.

Throughout the rest of the world it is not as widespread a problem as there are traditional elements that add to the Japanese reclusive nature such as the close son and mother relationship and social and academic pressures. However, there is an increase in the amount young people who are seeking solitude and are living their life purely through their games.

While government recognition in Japan has meant there is treatment for those shutting themselves in and support for their families, as it is not yet a large scale problem throughout the rest of the world, help is not readily available anywhere else.