/hikikomori/

Probably because you'll want to become NEETu before reaching pensioner age and productive society can't have that.

Crime and punishment

anyone legit hiki here?

These work.

I think there were at least two cloistered nuns that wrote famous christian tracts.

is celibacy the key to women writing works of merit?

Used to be for 3 1/2 years. To this day it's still the worst time of my life by many orders of magnitude. I wouldn't wish that hell on anyone.

Wolf in White Van
About a shut-in that runs a mail-based RPG

Shame netflix took that off, i was halfway through

yes this is what i thought too

The main character in No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai has the social alienation mentality and a similar psyche of what I think you're looking for but he isn't a hiki nor a shut in.

It's still worth reading for at least the first section, though

It's all on youtube

Yes but I am not exactly a NEET. I earn a few 100k per year off of an ecommerce business that takes around 20 hours per week to run.

I get all of my needs delivered via mail/parcel service/task rabbit/grocery gateway.

I have a two door entryway and I indicate that deliveries should be left between the two doors where I collect them after the deliveryman has left.

I have someone cut my lawn and so on otherwise the neighbors complain to the city.

I haven't seen another person for about 3 years now. I spend most of my time either reading or trying to design software and automation to run my household or play with me.

Everything seems to be going well. Hopefully I will never have to go outside again.

Welcome to the NHK, the novel and the manga. 10/10 desu

Are there female Neets/Hikkis?

Of course. Historically in some societies it's even a traditional role ("housewife").

Not a NEET (somehow I manage to get out to write my exams and keep up my studies) but I'm a shut in due to severe agoraphobia
Does it count?

Jesus you just depressed me.

yes, me
I go clubbing once in a while when I want to hookup, once a week or so
but I'm mostly a shut-in type

...

I want to be you.

Living the dream.

What's your house setup like? Do you have a yard?

Welcome to the NHK

is the book worth it if you've seen the show already?

I honestly don't know, I was just saying it because it's clearly the book OP wants to read.

where the hell do you live that your neighbors can complain to the city about the length of your grass

Yeah, I'd assume there would be more actual NEET females given its expected of them outright in many societies. I wonder what proportion of societies have women working full time as a normal thing.

The book honestly beats the fuck out of the show as is actually shows the characters to be more consistently interesting and fucked up people. The anime honestly felt preachy and copped out of way too much shit.

Read "Girl in the Dark" if you want to be scared out of your shut-in tendencies

It's a memoir, so if you're a NEET for the purpose of escapism this might not be for you

>ctrl-f "confederacy of dunces"
>0 of 0

Come the fuck on Veeky Forums.

Book is literally about a guy who lives with his single mom into his 30s and is forced to find a job, and it won a Pullitzer.

not a hikikomori

he's out all day talking to people

epub or pdf?

Employment itself as is relatively new for the masses. Before industrialisation the basic economic unit was family companies which were a much more organically organised affair.

I got it from a library, I'd suggest you do too, it's a short book

diary

Die Taube by Patrick Süskind. It's not exactly about a hikikomori though, the protagonist works as a security guard. But apart from that, he's basically a shut-in. The prose is beautiful but I don't know if there are any decent translations.

how hard would be to read it for a foreigner in german?

My house isn't really ideal for me. The reason that I have it is that my grandparents were selling it and it is the only place where I have positive memories so I bought it from them.

The neighborhood is almost like a suburb although technically it is inside the city. The backyard is somewhat big for a city house and has a pool. I haven't filled the pool because the neighbors are always in the adjacent yard so I don't go out there. I am going to build a much bigger wall if the city will allow it and also install a retractable tarp in case of drones and so on.

The backyard is completely overgrown but the front still needs to be maintained because the neighborhood is full of retired people that are easily angered--possibly demented.

Inside I have an assortment of hydroponic gardens, fountains, moving sculptures (not sure what else to call them), a room full of computer racks, a room full of these mixed reality games I have made, an art room, a library(i like paper books) and a workshop. There used to be two bathrooms but one of them is a sensory deprivation tank now (i'm going to install an optional ceiling display soon). There is only one small bedroom left. I want to turn the kitchen into a more industrial kitchen soon but I don't want the delivery men to see inside my house so I'm not sure how to do it. I have to wait for more money anyway though.

Most things in the house are run by a central computer. I'm trying to automate laundry right now so that I can just put it all in a chute and get it back folded but I can't find an easy solution for sorting and folding. Maybe I will stop wearing clothes but I like seeing them in the mirrors. I have a lot of mirrors so that I can see more of the room at once.

yes. but its inferior to the anime

anime > book > manga

Dude u need vitamin D

It's not a metaphor but a literal transformation. Kafka is a comedian. How do people not get this?

The ol Kafkmeister.

I think people miss it partly because it sort of looks like satire or parody sometimes but isn't.

Just play with people on the internet...?

yes, me

I have a Sperti lamp and supplements

Do you exercise regularly too?

Came here to post this.

I have a Concept2 rower that I use twice per day

Excellent choice bruh. Just be careful of your lower back if you decide you gotta go fast.

>There used to be two bathrooms but one of them is a sensory deprivation tank now

holy shit, your house must be one of the craziest out there. Tell us more abotu the dep tank. Also, what made you turn into this, if you could elaborate?

>The chapters include case studies covering issues such as:
>Returnee children (kikokushijo)
>Compensated dating (enjo kōsai)
>Corporal punishment (taibatsu)
>Bullying (ijime)
>Child abuse (jidō gyakutai)
>The withdrawn youth (hikikomori) and
>NEETs (not in education, employment or training)

I like you.

I like you even more now.

It's "Magnus realized, with a sort of laugh, that every joke he had recently heard had been told by himself, to himself, and at his own expense." posting.

I ended up in hospital, almost killed myself after less than 6 months hikki. Fucking horrible experience.

what does this mean?

for non-fiction, pic related is the only book im aware of on the topic.

for those looking for a concrete solution to their neethood i'd warn against this book. the characters come to a conclusion thats similar to a principle in 12 step programs: that once one has been proven to be susceptible to [alcohol, gambling, being a hikki] it must be constantly struggled against lest it destroy you. im not trying to say that being a hikki is just as deleterious as these other addictions or that being a hikki is even an addiction (which is another conversation), only that they seem to share one quality.

the author even admits in multiple afterwords (spanning editions/years) to never truly overcoming being a hikki which lends credence to his book's message.

no idea how this all compares to the show, ive never seen it.

Well obviously the book isn't going to cure hikkikomori-ness, but it'll probably make the reader feel better, judging by the show. It might even give a person more confidence to try and better themselves.

thats true, though it does sound from others in this thread that the anime is much more optimistic in its outlook than the novel (maybe this a result of a change of heart by Takimoto?).

The sad thing is that I watched the show back in high school when I still had a semblance of a social life, and it was scary how similar Tatsuhiro Satou's memories were to myself. Now I'm witnessing myself slipping down the exact same path as him and there doesn't seem to be anything I can do about it.

i consider myself to be a semi-agoraphobe (like how dfw refers to himself in his cruise essay). i am uneasy in public, taking the bus is hard etc.

i know how badly i can be hurt by others but i also realize it is imperative for my well being to seek out relationships with people. i think it is important to just push yourself to interact and not to dwell on how hard it is. the doing is more important than the failing in this case.

maybe someone itt who overcame being a hikki could describe what it was like or how it happened. but ive never heard it described as anything other than hell... now trying to find a post i saved on the subject.

impossible unless you've already learned german for 5+ years

It isn't that I'm afraid of people. I can interact with strangers just fine without any anxiety, but I just find the vast majority of people to be so fucking boring that I don't want to. There are a few interesting people I know who I love to hang out with, but they're always busy these days with jobs and classes and other shit, so I just spend all day indoors with very rare occasions when I get to socialize with the folks I like. I also understand that whole agoraphobia thing. I get it when I go to cities, especially New York. Fortunately, though, I live in the spacious country where I don't have to worry about ever feeling trapped in massive crowds.

Everything Hermann Hesse

>Bullying (ijime)

Just read up on that

Psychological bullying was the most fun

you should just join a monastery

I know this post is three days old at the time I'm writing this but what could possibly be bad about being a hiki? I can't see it being nearly as bad as the way you're describing it.

it is the key to anyone writing works of merit

he thinks it's the norwegian/six-installments-memoir/etc. guy

why though? what links those two?

bro im th guy that posted a;lll the hiki photos, ive never been in that situation but just imagine all the social congacgts you have GONE, no esca]efrom tjhe stupid hellsca[e youvr created...everypme you love dissapointed in you. theres social hadships in noit being a hikki but just imagine abstainign from it all

i know im soundong like a moron rn, but just trust me on this one you dont want that life

Why do you weabs not understand that by being weabs you will never have the respect of the Japanese people you so idolize?

>He does leave the house a bit but not much
The 'trip to London' is my favourite part because I can totally see myself doing that.

>streaming

What sort of ecommerce business?

Seriously, how is noone else curious about this?

Same guy who wrote the post here. I can understand why you would think it'd be great if you haven't lived through it. I actually willingly became a hiki thinking it would be great, given how much I disliked socialization and never felt the need to go outside. And it was great, for awhile. For the first few months it felt like a nice extended vacation where I didn't have to deal with the stress of socializing and going out to do things.

But not speaking a word to anyone in months changes the way you perceive socialization. Staring at a screen day in day out endlessly and never feeling sunlight on your skin changes the way you perceive the world around you. Sitting in a chair or bed all day and only moving around to go the bathroom or get food changes the way you perceive yourself. Its a gradual decay of every sense, an imperceptible numbing of all of the world around you and warping of your mind that you won't take conscious notice of until you've hit rock bottom - until you're legitimately unable to tell wake from dream, and don't really care which it is because your sedentary life of passive and apathetic stimulation doesn't matter. Until you can't sleep for 2 days straight out of anxiety and panic attacks at the realization that you have to go on your monthly trip to the grocery store, the only time you go outside, which you can only make late at night. When someone strikes up conversation with you but you haven't spoken in so long that you don't understand how to respond, and even saying a word sounds and feels completely alien. When you start sleeping for 14-16 hours a day and are only awake at night because time becomes completely meaningless to you. When everything around you feels like its 2D, and less real than what you see on the screen. When looking in the mirror gives you a deep sense of existential dread because you don't at all recognize what you're looking at. I entered into the lifestyle mostly mentally healthy other than slight social anxiety and depression, but when I came out of it I was legitimately a hardly functioning shell of a human being.

Perhaps the glorification of being a hikikomori amongst introverted teenagers has led to a biased perception of the lifestyle, or perhaps the general misunderstanding of how extreme the isolation is for a hikikomori opposed to simply an introverted NEET has led people to assume it must be a nice respite from the outside world, but neither is true. The world of a true hikikomori is unhealthy, disgusting, depressing, confusing, and pathetic. I've been free from that lifestyle for over 5 years now, and I'm still suffering the after effects of the slew of mental and behavioral disorders that spilled out from my time as a hikky despite living an exceptionally normal and healthy lifestyle now, and I suspect I'll have to deal with those problems one way or another for the rest of my life.

More like book > manga > anime. Then again, it has been over 6 years since I read/watched them.

Its a rare case of them all being worth checking out, anyway.

Out of curiosity, how did you manage to do it? Didn't your friends and parents talk to you? I mean sometimes I go a few weeks without speaking to people or going outside, but eventually people wonder what's happened and will come to my apartment. Also, what made you change your ways?

(not him but)
Friends will stop talking to you quickly if you never had (m)any to begin with. Even if you had many, its not like they'll spend months trying to break into your home. It is also possible to be very distant to one's parents.

However, let us remember that in Japan, where the word originates from, most "hikikomori" do live with their parents. I did, too, in my worst year. It is reasonable to assume that most occasionally talk to their parents, maybe not properly, but you know, the kind of communication that is needed. It is a relatively rare case, probably, that they actually manage to not talk to anyone in all their hikki time.

Anyway that guy might live in some welfare state. It makes it all a bit easier since one doesn't need to depend on their parents for money/food/housing.

There was a year or so in my life that I'd probably be classified one. I lived with my parents, I avoided them all I could, but obviously I sometimes needed to ask for money etc, or maybe they would "forcefully" try to have a conversation with me. So I wasn't quite as completely isolated as that other guy.

Shit was pretty bad but it began with my anxiety being so bad that especially at first, it felt great. Studying was real suffering with my symptoms; just being alone for half a year was great. For a while, it felt like all I could hope for; just me and my computer, the only stressful situations being confrontations with my parents or going to the store.

I only ate prepackaged junk food because I was too fearful of germs to use the kitchen. I lived in the middle of junk and crap, though, since I was also too fearful to touch the junk enough to clean it up. I spent most of my time watching horror movies and browsing the web. It was all sort of like a dream, it began as a light one, but by the end, it was horrible.

I finally got to see a psychiatrist after I'd had a few very strong and long panic attacks where I thought I'd kill myself by clawing my throat open and a few semi-hallucinations (I thought I saw hands and frogs everywhere). I also had this obsession about a guy in a red jacket chasing me around when I went to the store; this started to make my grocery store trips too hard as I had to invent longer and longer ways to the store to avoid the bad guy.

Part of what preceded becoming a hikky was moving far away from all of my irl friends to the rural middle of nowhere. They didn't really care for me in the first place, so they didn't make any effort to keep contact. And while I had some online friends for a time, I never initiated conversation and begun saying less and less until they completely forgot about me too. As for family, they didn't know the extent of my isolation and I leeched off their money in the mail for a time, but they didn't make much of an effort to visit due to the distance. So sometime around the end of the first year or so, I had no friends and very little contact with family. There were a few family holiday's I went to where it was very obvious how bad I was, but I don't think they cared or were comfortable enough to do anything to help.

I can't say if there was any particular turning point when I decided to change. At some point I begun an obsession with philosophy, and existentialism and stoicism made me really realize how far I'd fallen, and after finding out about depersonalization and derealization (which I had very severe symptoms of) I decided to turn my life around slowly. It took about a year and a half to get to the point where I could go outside, and another year to get to the point where I could hold conversation with people.
This is definitely an accurate depiction of what it was like. I had a lot of those hallucinations and panic attacks as well. I remember at one point regularly seeing 3 faces with distinct personalities that would appear on the wall. One looked somewhat like a lion that would reassure me, one looked somewhat alien, like a deformed human, and would say nothing, and one was just a set of 2 perfectly round and hollow eyes that I would see almost everywhere that would tell me to kill myself in pretty horrific ways. Looking back its completely obvious how mentally ill I was, but at the time I never questioned it.

A basin constructed from fiber glass and wood framing filled with a water and epsom salt solution covers the entirety of the floor space. The walls and ceiling are also protected by fiberglass panels.

The water is kept at body temperature by a radiant heating system under the basin.

The water is cleansed using particle filtration and UV sterilization between use.

I constructed a more robust and sound-limiting hatch to replace the door. The walls + ceiling have been sound proofed by adding insulation and applying soft, irregular material to the walls of the adjacent rooms, interior and hatch.

At the moment oxygen exchange creates noise so I disable it unless I am going in for multiple days. It needs to be redesigned. I also want to be able to precisely control air composition.

In the future I hope to make use of total parenteral nutrition to remain in the tank for extended periods. The nutrition limited session length is inadequate for my needs.

>what made you turn into this
I didn't turn into anything. I am responding to the environment that I am presented with. Most people would not be so cavalier if they were aware of the scale of predation that threatens them.

I sell goods for rare interests: pet habitats, specialized art tools/supplies, aquaculture and hydroponic equipment, electronic components and control systems, instructional digital products etc.

Most of it is drop-shipped from the manufacturer but some things need to go through a fulfillment center to be packaged together.

Customers are mostly acquired through natural and paid search results and retained by email newsletters that I put a significant amount of effort into.

I don't put much time into growing anymore and maintenance doesn't take long aside from writing newsletters. I also make use of virtual assistants.

Are you self taught or have you had some sort of technical training? What do you mean by "predation".

I don't know how to answer these questions adequately, sorry.

while im very interested in these personal accounts, any more fiction recs?

You should check out a masterpiece called "My Diary, To Be Honest".