I keep seeing articles about how everyone should be "hikikomori" during this pandemic.

Most hikikomori who refuse to go outside are dealing with depression, anxiety, trauma, etc. They avoid interacting with others out of fear & a lack of confidence.

It's not the same thing.

A lot of hikikomori also struggle with executive functioning. They can't make elaborate meals or clean their own rooms like neurotypical people can. They depend on their family members for this. They have online communities for social support but it may hinder them from recovery.

To reduce the hikikomori community to a group of people who choose to social distance is ignorant.

They are not the model for social distancing.

They represent the lack of accessibility to mental healthcare...

the absence of intervention when it comes to bullying & abuse.

There are hikikomori outside of Japan too, but it's barely researched bc of the stigma + lack of terminology abroad.

I remember seeing Livejournal communities & Tumblrs of English-speaking hikikomori.

They sought help online because they felt safer there than they did offline.

tl;dr: it's great that social distancing is being promoted in Japan but labeling it as "hikikomori" is wrong.

The whole concept behind hikikomori is isolating oneself out of the debilitating fear of other people outside, not the fear of catching or spreading a deadly virus.