Psychiatrist Federico Tonioni highlights the complex roots of hikikomori, emphasising emotional factors and the importance of family and societal support in addressing this troubling phenomenon among young people.
Adolescents who withdraw so completely from school, friends and family that they retreat into their rooms are often misunderstood as simply addicted to screens, but Federico Tonioni says the reality is more complex. The psychiatrist at Rome’s Agostino Gemelli University Hospital describes hikikomori as young people overwhelmed by shame, fear of exposure and a need to protect themselves from emotional injury, to the point that online life and offline life begin to merge.
Tonioni argues that the early signs often emerge around the age of 11 or 12, when some children struggle to make the transition into adolescence and start to narrow their world to the smartphone. He says many appear to have learning difficulties, yet may in fact be quick learners who struggle instead with emotions. That is one reason he is sceptical of what he calls an overzealous rush to diagnose, preferring a broader look at how children learn and cope.
Research published in Springer and other psychiatric reviews supports the idea that social withdrawal is shaped by more than one cause. Studies have linked hikikomori with parental communication, excessive internet use and wider psycho-social factors, while also warning that diagnosis can be difficult because the condition sits somewhere between a clinical syndrome and a wider cultural phenomenon. Experts cited in the literature also stress that treatment works best when it considers the family as part of the problem and part of the solution.
Tonioni says parents should resist the temptation to police smartphones too aggressively. In his view, the contents of a child’s phone can include sexuality, fantasy and relationships, and snooping only deepens mistrust. He argues that adolescents need attention and boundaries, but not obsessive control, and that real resilience grows from feeling loved even when they fail. For him, the work is collective: if adults spend their own day glued to screens, they cannot fairly blame children for doing the same.
Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical judgment, advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
