The Intersection of Culture and Solitude

Teo, Alan R.; Stufflebam, Kyle; Kato, Takahiro A.

doi:10.1002/9781118427378.ch25

Cited by 14 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Solitude affordances may also change based on culture (Averill & Sundarajan, 2014). Culturally specific forms of extreme solitude exist, such as the hikikomori phenomenon in Japan (Teo et al, 2014) that is also reported in other cultures (Kato et al, 2012). Everyday solitude can also vary as a function of culture.…”

Section: Future Researchmentioning

confidence: 80%

Definitions of Solitude in Everyday Life

Weinstein

Hansen

Nguyen

2022

Pers Soc Psychol Bull

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What does it mean to be in solitude? Researchers building this nascent field are learning much about the potential affordances of solitude, but lack an agreed-upon definition or set of definitions. Arriving at that meaning is crucial to forming a solid foundation for studies that use both naturalistic and laboratory designs to explore outcomes of solitude. This study identified themes from semi-structured interviews with adults aged 19 to 80 from diverse backgrounds. We concluded that solitude is a state in which the dominant relationship is with the self. If not physically alone, people in solitude are mentally distanced from others and away from active technology-mediated interactions. Complete solitude involves both physical separation and inner focus, but solitude is best defined through a taxonomy that recognizes physical separation and internal focus as independent, sufficient characteristics. An internal focus benefits from (but is not defined by) balancing solitude with social time, quiet, and choice.

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Section: Future Researchmentioning

confidence: 80%

Definitions of Solitude in Everyday Life

Weinstein

Hansen

Nguyen

2022

Pers Soc Psychol Bull

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“…The concept of primary hikikomori has been criticized and defined as a paradox, a psychiatric category created to single out those who do not belong to the psychiatric field of research (Tajan, ). However, the grouping of one part of the cases of social withdrawal under the category of primary hikikomori has made it possible to get away from the constraints of a rigid psychiatric classification, and has created the possibility of paying more attention to the relational, developmental and psychological aspects that characterize the life course of these adolescents (Teo et al ., ).…”

Section: Hikikomori: a 21st Century Phenomenonmentioning

confidence: 97%

Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy for Hikikomori Young Adults and Adolescents

Ranieri¹

2018

Brit J Psychotherapy

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A hikikomori is a child, an adolescent or a young adult who voluntarily retreats into his own home for long periods, not showing evident signs of psychological distress or overt mental disorder. This phenomenon was first described in Japan, but several research studies show that it is spreading in many countries around the world. The author hypothesizes that the decision to become a hikikomori is made by the person in an attempt to find a solution to difficulties in relationships with himself and with others. The choice of reclusion rapidly becomes a trap: in this condition the individual is imprisoned in complex functions of the mind which curb and restrict independence and personal autonomy. This is owing to the fact that, with the withdrawal, a pathological personality organization, formed during the years of early infancy, gradually takes control of the internal world, pushing towards anti‐developmental mental states and behaviours. The paper continues with some reflections on individual treatment with psychoanalytic psychotherapy of adolescents and young adults in a state of acute social withdrawal. The reference model used is John Steiner's notion of ‘psychic retreat’. A description of a four‐year treatment completes the paper, allowing for further clinical reflections.

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“…While it is not classified in the DSM-V or ICD [International Classification of Diseases], hikikomori is recognized by mental health organizations and research institutions around the world as a "culture-bound syndrome. " While acknowledging the flaws of the term, and while recognizing the existence of similar if not identical phenomena in other countries, Teo, Stufflebaum, and Kato (2014) argue that hikikomori must be considered a "culture-bound syndrome" because "(i) it is a discrete, well-defined syndrome; (ii) it has been argued as a specific illness; (iii) it is expected, recognized and to some degree sanctioned as a response to certain cultural precipitants; and (iv) it has a higher incidence of prevalence [in Japan] compared to other cultures" (449).…”

Section: Hikikomori Amae and Helpmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Angels Won't Help You

Bowker

2022

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The Angels Won’t Help You is a book about the uniqueness and primacy of help, particularly in relation to care, love, and caritas. It relies heavily on psychoanalytic and philosophical accounts of help and care and finds that help requires the establishment of a real relationship between persons, where help is given and received in a transitional space that is collapsed by care, unity, or love, which are mental constellations that, while profound, remain within the individuals involved. It contains reflections, memoir, and prose poetry, with an emphasis on psycho-philosophical examinations of help. In trying to understand help, especially in the ways that it is not a synonym for care, Bowker turns to diverse sources and topics, including treatments of children in a helpless world, as featured in the literature of Kathy Acker and Jerzy Kosiński, a first-person account of help in psychiatric hospitals, an analysis of the phenomenon of Japanese hikikomori (“shutting oneself in”), anxiety and helplessness, an exploration of the nature of help and helplessness in Wilfred Bion’s “Attacks on Linking,” a rethinking of trauma in light of the circuital structure of the self, and more. *** Put differently, The Angels Won’t Help You is a cruel helpless hopeless book raised in Texas roped ridden waddled clowned it developed catastrophic methods of coping. Angels’ mama split her tongue and hissed her words like silent / soldier / crisis in the torment of her sunken trailer in the summer where Angels practiced lighting cigarettes with her eyes fetching fireflies making tinctures of dead tissue becoming extraordinarily promiscuous. Angels’ nature was to hide in dark places to ride with abandon to sink in the spurs to gnash silver teeth to kick up tipped boots ruining every square dance. Angels, you make me need like a choke rope dream of being sick from head to foot. You are the petaled froth on every steep lapel. You are original and dilapidated depilatory and inflationary ovulary and delusional. O Angels, the scholars will say I failed to know you address you presage you protect you protest you, but we know the truth.

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The Intersection of Culture and Solitude

Cited by 14 publications

References 28 publications

Definitions of Solitude in Everyday Life

Definitions of Solitude in Everyday Life

Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy for Hikikomori Young Adults and Adolescents

The Angels Won't Help You

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