DOIONLINE 
DOIONLINE Publish In |
International Journal of Management and Applied Science (IJMAS)-IJMAS |
 Journal Home Volume Issue |
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Issue |
Volume-7,Issue-10 ( Oct, 2021 ) | |||||||||
Paper Title |
Severe Social Withdrawal and Lockdown: A Descriptive Study of Hikikomori in Indian Youth | |||||||||
Author Name |
Padmini Singh Chauhan, Veehangi Singh, Nitika Kumar | |||||||||
Affilition |
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Pages |
22-27 | |||||||||
Abstract |
Abstract – BACKGROUND: For longer than a year India has been under a series of lockdown. Social isolation, physical distancing, closure of educational institutions, workplaces and entertainment centers have consigned people to stay in their home to curtail the rapid human-human transmission of coronavirus. This pandemic has severely impacted the way that human beings prefer to interact with others during such unprecedented times, with individuals across all age groups reporting an apparent lack of interest in socializing. The current study was conducted with the purpose of exploring the relationship between the Lockdown in India in 2020-21 and manifestation of Hikikomori- a condition characterized by severe social withdrawal. METHODS: The researchers conducted a quantitative study and employed a descriptive research design. The participants of the study were a total of 102 individuals between the ages of 17 - 25 years. An online version of the HQ-25 questionnaire by Alan R Teo and colleagues (2018) was utilized, keeping in mind the nation-wide lockdown and social distancing norms that were in place, at the time of data collection of the current study. The next section of the questionnaire constituted of four shorts, yes/no questions exploring the prevalence and absence of hikikomori symptoms during and after the nation-wide lockdown in both the years- 2020 and 2021. RESULTS: Out of 102 participants, 51 individuals met the at-risk criterion for Hikikomori by attaining a score of 42 or above on the questionnaire. The highest score was recorded for Socialization (46.5%) followed by Isolation (33.6%) and Emotional support (19.9%). The total number of responses to each item include, Were the above statements true for you prior to the Lockdown of 2020? (Yes:36, No:15), Were the above statements true for you during Lockdown 2020? (Yes:41, No:10), Was the above statement true for you after removal of Lockdown 2020? (Yes:45, No:6), Are the above statements true for you during Lockdown 2021? (Yes: 42, No:9). CONCLUSION: A historian of pandemics at Yale University postulated that Covid-19, the first pandemic will soon be followed by a second pandemic- a psychosocial pandemic (Frank Snowden). One of the constituents of the latter would be an inability to rewire our mind to the normality of social behavior. The researchers of the current study believe this research to be a precedent to a larger problem the society might be exposed to, in coming years: Social Rewiring. Keywords - Hikikomori, Lockdown, Social Isolation, Severe Social Withdrawal, Covid-19 | |||||||||
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