WHAT IS AND WHAT ISN'T HIKIKOMORI (part 2) The hikikomori is not a social phobia As well as the hikikomori isolation is not caused by depression, it is not due either to some kind of social phobia, as can be for example Agoraphobia (the fear of open spaces, public places). It's undeniable that, after a long period of isolation, a person can develop a dependence on the computer, may experience a decline in mood or being afraid to leave the house, but this can lead us to say that internet addiction, depression and social phobias are the causes of hikikomori? Are these the reasons that led the boy or the girl to close in their own room? The answer is obviously "no". What is hikikomori? Hikikomori is a copying strategy activated in response to the excessive pressure of social realization typical of modern individualistic societies (this definition of hikikomori is exclusively the result of my studies and of my reflections about the phenomenon. It's not an official definition. It's not been derived from scientific studies, books or magazines). More in detail... The pressures of social realization (eg. "You have to take good grades", "you have to find a steady job", "you have to find a boy/girl", "you have to be sympathetic, athletic and attractive") are obviously more stronger in adolescence and early adult life, when there are a lot of expectations about the future. Boys and girls will find themselves to fill the virtual gap that is created between reality and expectations of parents, teachers and peers. When the gap gets too big they could experience feelings of helplessness, loss of control and failure. In turn, these negative feelings can lead to an attitude of rejection towards those that are the sources of these social expectations. And since these sources are, as mentioned, related, teachers, peers and, more generally society, the boy will tend spontaneously to stay away from them. Hence the refusal to speak with parents, going to school, to maintain friendly relations and to undertake any type of "social career". Hence the feelings of hatred towards the source of their pain. Hence the choice of the withdrawal, of the isolation. Thank you very much for you help!!

WHAT IS AND WHAT ISN'T HIKIKOMORI (part 1) Hi all, I've written this article but I'm not sure it's completely correct. Please help me (it's a bit long, I know, but I think it could be interesting) WHAT IS AND WHAT ISN'T HIKIKOMORI Slowly the attention on hikikomori phenomenon is growing. Articles that talk about it are multiplying on the web and, in recent years, the issue has been debated repeatedly on television. This attention is certainly positive because it helps to raise awareness and to sensitize more and more people on the phenomenon. However, dealing with such a complex issue without have first adequately informed, it's very easy to fall into error, be superficial, or make a real bad information. Frequently hikikomori is exchanged with diseases which have nothing to do with it, causing a lot of confusion around the phenomenon and, consequently, preventing those are in this condition to identify themselves. For this reason, before understand what is hikikomori, it's important to establish what is NOT hikikomori: Hikikomori is not Internet Addiction As stated several times in this blog, the use of the web by hikikomori must be intended as a result of isolation and not as a cause. The phenomenon has broken out in Japan before the spread of Personal Computers. This means that before there was Internet the isolation of hikikomori was absolute. From this point of view, the use of the web can be interpreted in a positive way, because it allows the guys to continue to cultivate social relationships that, otherwise, they would not have. Hikikomori is not depression Many thinks that the isolation of hikikomori it's only a consequence of a depressive state. We have already discussed why this is a false belief, a blunt instrument. First, in accordin with the Japanese Ministry of Health in 2013, the hikikomori is NOT a disease (unlike depression). It was in fact demonstrated the existence of a "primary hikikomori", a hikikomori that develops before and apart from other diseases; a withdrawal that was not derived from any pre-existing mental disorder.

My abstract on Linkedin (I need your help. I wish this cover letter sounds as natural as possible to a native English. You can substitute some terms with another if you deem it appropriate. Thank you so much!) In the October 2014 I concluded my university career getting a master's degree in Social Psychology (communication and marketing orientation) at the University of Milano-Bicocca. I chose this course of study because I was interested to understand psychological dynamics below the communication process (in particular advertising) and the consumer behavior of the people. After graduation I started an intership in Market Research (with a focus on qualitative method) learning how to conduct an in-depth interview and having the opportunity to observe several focus groups. Once completed this training experience I decided to move towards the world of Web Marketing by attending a specialization course in Social Media Marketing. I have always been interested in the new forms of communication made possible by the web (in particular by the Social Networks) so I decided to have an experience in this field. Actually I work as Social Media Manager and Community Manager at Webentually Srl (a startup partner of RCS MediaGroup). I'm increasing my knowledge of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Vine, Wordpress and I'm developing higher skills in the use of programs such as Photoshop and Excel. I'm also improving my skills in web writing (SEO oriented) and copywriting. In the future I'd like to do an experience abroad.

My holidays in Croatia I have spent the last week in Croatia for holidays, so I would talk about my impression of this country. The sea is beautiful but beaches aren't sandy, they are full of stones. It's dangerous walk without sandals because you could hit your feet. In addiction, beaches are very small, so you have to stay really close with the other person. If you arrive late, the beach could be already full and you have to find another one. The second aspect which have hit my attention is the hinterland: it's ininhabited. We have travelled for kilometers and kilometers, but between cities there isn't nothing, except for some house probably occupied by farmer. This fact have made me curiosly, so I have searched on google the population of Croatia and I was impressed: Croatia have only 4 million of people. This was a really shock for me because the only hinterland of Milan have about 7 million of people who live in. However, landscapes of Croatia are beautiful. All around you can see threes, green grass and hills. We went also at Plitvice, a national park with amazing waterfalls (let's look the image I have loaded!). We walked for 16 kilmeters, but the our effort was repay. Thanks for help and if you have been in Croatia tell me what you think about.

The controversial choice to be a vegetarian Today the interest for the alimentation is grow. Always more people choose to be vegetarian, but this is not often a choice driven by health motivation, instead behind this choice there are also ethical reasoning. For example, the condition of the animals in the farms or the idea that killing animals are always wrong, also for feeding. I think that become a vegetarian could be a great choice indipendently by the moral issues. Why? Because escluding the animal's protein from the diet we all could stay better. This because the human being has not evolved to eat meet or milk or eggs. The vast majority of the diet of the human being is always be composed by vegetables and fruits. This because the agriculture was in past the primary source of sustenance. Only in modern times we have at disposition so much meet because now we have farms mass. The red meet is the main responsable for cancer and milk is one of the most untolerated food in the world. This for me is enough to justify the elimination of meet, milk and eggs from my diet. And what about fish? Well, this is a insidious issue. From one hand, fish is also a source of animal's protein, on the other hand it's rich of Omega3, a fondamental research for our organism. So, at the moment I choose to not exclude fish from my diet, but in future I don't know what I will do. (Thanks for the help. Please leave me your opinion about this topic!)