Are you stuck inside your house or even your bedroom and you can't leave? Please let us know!
Hello everyone, I'm doing a listener project on the Hikikomori issue that is so prevalent among us social anxiety sufferers, yet it doesn't have good support systems or discussion.
Hikikomori (literally "pulling inward, being confined", i.e., "acute social withdrawal") is a Japanese term to refer to the phenomenon of reclusive adolescents or adults who withdraw from social life, often seeking extreme degrees of isolation and confinement. The term hikikomori refers to both the sociological phenomenon in general and the people belonging to this societal group. Hikikomori have been described as recluses, loners, or "modern-day hermits".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hikikomori
Are you stuck inside your house or even just your bedroom and you can't leave?
Please let us know!
I do spend a lot of time inside. I enjoy being out at times but being at home is the most comfortable. When I am out, I feel more anxious. I sometimes don't answer messages of "friends" who live not too far, to avoid having to show up. I am making small efforts because I really do not want to be this way forever.
Oh my gosh @TealGalore, I relate to this so much. Sometimes I get a knot in my stomach trying to decide if I should respond to a text that may result in an invitation to go out (that Ill have to come up with an excuse to sidestep), or wait until the next day and risk making that person upset that Im possibly ignoring them.
Yes, definitely do feel this way. I deal with severe agoraphobia. I'm confined to one room of my home, and only leave the house when absolutely necessary. When I do, I panic after a couple of hours or less. It's hellish :c
I've been home for a year. I really need to do more. The only thing I do is run small errands. On occasion I've gone to the movies.
I'm afraid I'm well on my way to becoming this way permanently...
We recently moved and I'm having a lot of trouble with it. I've always been a homebody and I have some kind of anxiety (still working out exactly what kind), and depression. Especially when I go through a period of depression, I don't want to leave the house. I hate leaving my room, in fact, and the only reason I do is because I don't want my family to disapprove of me for hiding away. I leave the house if my family is going somewhere or if I feel obligated to (I fear rejection big time, worse than my actually anxiety about leaving the house, so if I feel like someone will be disappointed/annoyed/upset by my not going, I go), but I feel reluctant and will do anything in my power to not leave. And when I'm away, I'm counting the seconds until I can come back home, where its safe. People terrify me. Driving scares me. Leaving my comfort zone fills me with dread. I don't want to always be like this but I don't know what to do about it.
As of lately I have been isolating myself from everyone and rather stay within my house to avoid forcing conversation with others. My grandma sometimes cooks dinner but I avoid eating with them simply because I dont feel comfortable. Ive also been avoiding my friends sometimes I even ignore their messages for hours because I dont want to speak to them for no reason at all. It just feels like I need alone time to make myself feel better but all it ever does is damage my relationships with others.
Yes, this describes me. I mostly exist in my bedroom (where my PC is) and I venture across the apartment to the kitchen or sometimes I sit in the family room (where the television is). I have an elderly dog who gets walked by my spouse in the morning, and then I let him out (we have a yard). After my spouse comes home I will go outside but I struggle with being alone, so he usually goes with me. I used to be able to go everywhere by myself, even long walks but that's not the case anymore. I gave up driving a year ago. I don't like being this way.
I do this sometimes.
This question was asked some time ago, and I have to wonder if anyone's even monitoring the answers.