ArticleSocial psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology2012
Does the 'hikikomori' syndrome of social withdrawal exist outside Japan? A preliminary international investigation.
Article in Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 91 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
91 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- The rise of hikikomori research: a bibliometric analysis of an emerging global phenomenon.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Pooled it
- Hikikomori in the urban digital era: a psychodynamic, transdiagnostic model and multimodal interventions.Current opinion in psychiatry · 2026Review
- Voluntary self-reclusion (Hikikomori) across cultures: A conceptual viewpoint.Indian journal of psychiatry · 2026Article
- Parental bonding and attachment in the hikikomori trajectory.Psychiatry and clinical neurosciences · 2026Article
- Diagnostic Performance and Subcategorization of Hikikomori Cases in Oman: A Cross-Sectional Study and Comparative Analysis of the HQ-25 and HiDE-I Assessment Tools.TheScientificWorldJournal · 2026Article
- Associations of parental academic achievement pressure, support, and school climate with hikikomori tendency among high school students.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Extreme social isolation risk is associated with story-driven, strategic and cooperative-first gameplay preferences.PLOS mental health · 2026Article
- The flow cytometric analysis of depression focusing on modern-type depression and hikikomori: Exploring the link between subtypes of depression and immunological imbalances.Dialogues in clinical neuroscience · 2025Article
- Hikikomori Risk in the UK.The International journal of social psychiatry · 2025Article
- Unmet Health Care Use Among Socially Withdrawn Youth (Hikikomori) in South Korea: Cross-Sectional Survey Study.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2025Article
- Predictive role of loneliness on mortality before the age 85 years among mid- to later-life adults in the United States: a 10-year retrospective cohort study.Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences · 2025Article
- Global psychiatrists' opinions aboutPCN reports : psychiatry and clinical neurosciences · 2025Article
- Comorbidity Between Hikikomori and Autistic Traits May Be Identified as a Phenotypical Presentation Characterized by Greater Severity.Brain sciences · 2025Article
- A data-driven approach to detect support strategies for children living in households receiving public assistance in Japan: a mixed methods study to establish tailor-made health and welfare care.International journal for equity in health · 2025Article
- Associations between social isolation, withdrawal, and depressive symptoms in young adults: a cross-sectional study.BMC psychiatry · 2025Article
- Investigating the Overlap ofMedicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2025Article
- Article
- Self-isolation of adolescents after Covid-19 pandemic between social withdrawal and Hikikomori risk in Italy.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Pathological and non-pathological hikikomori: social media use, digital engagement, and therapeutic implications.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Article
- Exploring emerging psychopathological characteristics and challenges of novel depression subtypes: insights from the literature.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Review
31 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
20 authors.
Funding
Abstract
purposeTo explore whether the 'hikikomori' syndrome (social withdrawal) described in Japan exists in other countries, and if so, how patients with the syndrome are diagnosed and treated.
methodsTwo hikikomori case vignettes were sent to psychiatrists in Australia, Bangladesh, India, Iran, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and the USA. Participants rated the syndrome's prevalence in their country, etiology, diagnosis, suicide risk, and treatment.
resultsOut of 247 responses to the questionnaire (123 from Japan and 124 from other countries), 239 were enrolled in the analysis. Respondents' felt the hikikomori syndrome is seen in all countries examined and especially in urban areas. Biopsychosocial, cultural, and environmental factors were all listed as probable causes of hikikomori, and differences among countries were not significant. Japanese psychiatrists suggested treatment in outpatient wards and some did not think that psychiatric treatment is necessary. Psychiatrists in other countries opted for more active treatment such as hospitalization.
conclusionsPatients with the hikikomori syndrome are perceived as occurring across a variety of cultures by psychiatrists in multiple countries. Our results provide a rational basis for study of the existence and epidemiology of hikikomori in clinical or community populations in international settings.
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