When the Kimura family moved here from Tokyo, their middle school-aged daughter missed her old friends. Midway into her first year in high school, she stopped going. Between 14 and 19, she barely left the house, and for one year hardly left her room, interacting only with her parents.

木村（Kimura）一家剛從東京搬到這里的時(shí)候，家里上初中的女兒十分想念她的老朋友。高一念了一半，她就輟學(xué)了。14至19歲期間，她基本不出家門，曾經(jīng)有整整一年幾乎沒離開過自己的房間，而且只跟父母打交道。

Now 33 and recovered, Ms. Kimura says she was “hikikomori.” That’s the name of a type of social withdrawal that can be so severe, people with it don’t leave their houses for years. It’s also what those who suffer from the condition are called.

現(xiàn)年33歲的木村女士說，她曾是個(gè)“隱蔽青年”（hikikomori）。“隱蔽青年癥候群”指的是一種社交退縮癥，這種病癥可能會(huì)達(dá)到相當(dāng)嚴(yán)重的地步，患者終年不出家門。“隱蔽青年”則用來指代罹患此病的群體。

The puzzling condition is often thought of as a Japanese phenomenon, affecting an estimated 500,000 to two million in Japan, according to projections from academic surveys. Published reports also have described cases in the U.S., Hong Kong and Spain, among other countries.

這一令人迷惑不解的病癥經(jīng)常被視為一種日本社會(huì)現(xiàn)象。據(jù)學(xué)者調(diào)查推測(cè)，日本約有50萬至200萬人深受其害。而在已發(fā)表的報(bào)告中，對(duì)于美國、香港、西班牙和其他國家的相關(guān)案例也有描述。

In Japan, hikikomori has been a household word since the 1990s, with many experts calling it one of the biggest social and health problems plaguing the country. Yet the causes and treatments of the condition—or even whether it’s a mental illness or not—remain poorly understood. And while the Japanese government has poured significant funds into helping hikikomori, treatment success rates remain low.

20世紀(jì)90年代以來，“隱蔽青年”成為日本人人皆知的一個(gè)詞匯。許多專家將其視為制約日本發(fā)展的一大社會(huì)與心理健康問題。然而，我們對(duì)其產(chǎn)生的原 因、治療方法，甚至這是否應(yīng)該被歸為一種心理疾病，都知之甚少。盡管日本政府已投入大量資金幫助“隱蔽青年”，但治愈率依然很低。

The condition illustrates the difficulty of defining mental illness and raises questions about the role society plays in shaping, allowing or even creating problematic behavior. Researchers in Fukuoka have set up an international collaboration to try to answer some of these questions.

“隱蔽青年癥候群”充分證明了心理疾病的界定難度，也質(zhì)疑了社會(huì)在問題行為上的作用，包括社會(huì)對(duì)問題行為的影響和容忍，甚至包括問題行為是否由社會(huì)引發(fā)。福岡的研究人員已發(fā)起一項(xiàng)國際合作項(xiàng)目，試圖解開這些疑問。

Solving the hikikomori riddle has taken on greater urgency in recent years. Sufferers often are men in their 20s and 30s who would be in the workforce but instead are being supported largely by their parents. Government officials worry about who will take responsibility for long-term hikikomori when their parents retire or die.

近年來，揭開“隱蔽青年癥候群”謎題已變得愈加迫切。“隱蔽青年”多為20歲至30歲的男性。本該在工作的他們?nèi)缃穹炊疽锌扛改腹B(yǎng)。政府官員們擔(dān)心，一旦他們的父母退休或離世，將無人為“隱蔽青年”負(fù)責(zé)。

Fukuoka, a city of 1.5 million 550 miles southwest of Tokyo, about four years ago opened a support center, which the Japanese government requires of every prefecture in the country. 福岡位于東京西南方1,500,550英里。大約四年前，按照日本政府對(duì)各縣市的要求，福岡開設(shè)了一家“隱蔽青年”援助中心。

Called Yokayoka, which means, “It’s OK, don’t worry about it,” in the local dialect, the one-room support center is linked to a youth employment facility. The center primarily fields phone calls from hikikomori or, more often, their worried parents. It also offers support groups for hikikomori and their parents. However, only a small number of hikikomori actually show up at the center. Of those, a minority are treated successfully, staffers say.

援助中心名叫“Yokayoka”，當(dāng)?shù)胤窖缘囊馑际恰皼]事兒，別擔(dān)心”。這家援助中心只有一個(gè)單間，與一所青年就業(yè)機(jī)構(gòu)相連。援助中心的主要工作 任務(wù)是接聽“隱蔽青年”的電話，但來電的更多是憂心忡忡的父母。他們也為“隱蔽青年”及其父母成立了互助小組。但工作人員稱，僅有少數(shù)“隱蔽青年”會(huì)來， 而他們中只有一小部分被成功治愈。

Takahiro Kato, a professor in the neuropsychiatry department at Kyushu University in Fukuoka, is working with the support center to study hikikomori in a more rigorous and systematic way. Dr. Kato and a team of Japanese and international collaborators that includes Alan Teo, a psychiatry professor at Oregon Health & Science University, want to better define what hikikomori is. They also hope to understand the social and biological underpinnings of the condition to improve treatments.

加藤貴裕（Takahiro Kato）是福岡九州大學(xué)神經(jīng)精神學(xué)科的一名教授。他正與援助中心合作，用更嚴(yán)謹(jǐn)系統(tǒng)的方法對(duì)“隱蔽青年癥候群”進(jìn)行研究。加藤博士及其所屬的一支包括日 本和國際專家在內(nèi)的合作團(tuán)隊(duì)，正試圖為“隱蔽青年癥候群”下一個(gè)更為明確的定義。俄勒岡健康與科學(xué)大學(xué)神經(jīng)病學(xué)教授張艾倫（Alan Teo）也是團(tuán)隊(duì)成員之一。該合作團(tuán)隊(duì)還希望了解這種病癥的社會(huì)和生理因素，并改善治療方法。

People who consider themselves hikikomori exhibit a wide range of symptoms, including depressive, autistic and obsessive-compulsive tendencies. A minority appear addicted to the Internet, says Dr. Kato, a 40-year-old psychiatrist.

現(xiàn)年40歲的精神病學(xué)家加藤博士稱，那些自認(rèn)“隱蔽青年”的群體表現(xiàn)出的癥狀各有不同，包括抑郁癥、自閉癥和強(qiáng)迫傾向，少數(shù)人上網(wǎng)成癮。

Yossy, 31, came for a recent hikikomori support group. He says he didn’t leave his parents’ house for six months after harassment from his boss at his speech therapy internship led him to quit. After that, he did begin to visit friends occasionally and volunteer at a library. But after four years, he still hasn’t held a full-time job.

31歲的Yossy近期曾到援助中心來參加過互動(dòng)小組。他表示，自己曾是一名語言障礙矯正實(shí)習(xí)醫(yī)師，因老板騷擾而辭職，之后他有半年一直待在父母家。從那以后，他偶爾也去會(huì)見朋友，或者在圖書館做義工。但四年過去了，他仍然沒有一份全職工作。

Hikikomori appears to be a condition distinct from other mental illnesses, Japanese experts say. Only about half of those with the condition would be diagnosed with a disorder in the U.S. psychiatric diagnostic manual commonly known as DSM-5, according to one survey of 4,134 Japanese residents published in Psychiatry Research in 2010. But large-scale survey data on hikikomori remains limited.

日本專家們認(rèn)為，“隱蔽青年癥候群”似乎有別于其他精神疾病。一項(xiàng)針對(duì)4134名日本居民的調(diào)查顯示，僅有約一半的“隱蔽青年”符合美國精神病學(xué)會(huì) 《精神障礙診斷與統(tǒng)計(jì)手冊(cè)》（Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders，俗稱DSM-5）的診斷標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，會(huì)被診斷為精神障礙。調(diào)查結(jié)果發(fā)布在2010年的《神經(jīng)病學(xué)研究》雜志上。但針對(duì)“隱蔽青年癥候群”的 大規(guī)模調(diào)查數(shù)據(jù)仍然很有限。

Japanese experts point to strict parenting practices and pressure that children feel to succeed as contributing factors. Yet hikikomori often live with their parents, and these parents can be soft in forcing their children to go to school or leave the home. They often bring trays of food to their bedroom doors.

日本專家指出，嚴(yán)厲的家庭教育和成功壓力是“隱蔽青年癥候群”的誘因。“隱蔽青年”經(jīng)常與父母同住，而他們的父母在敦促孩子上學(xué)或離家方面卻表現(xiàn)得心慈手軟。他們常把食物端到孩子的房門口。

Current thinking is that providing hikikomori with positive social interactions will help them reintegrate with the outside world. Michiko Asami, president of the nonprofit that runs Yokayoka, welcomes each hikikomori with a big smile and tries to initiate a nonjudgmental conversation. Sometimes they sit silently for multiple sessions or won’t look at her. Gradually, some do.

目前來看，為“隱蔽青年”提供積極的社會(huì)互動(dòng)將有助于恢復(fù)他們與外界的聯(lián)系。負(fù)責(zé)Yokayoka援助中心運(yùn)作的非營利性機(jī)構(gòu)主席淺海美智子 （Michiko Asami）笑容滿面地歡迎每一位“隱蔽青年”的到來，她試圖發(fā)起一次無偏見的對(duì)話。有時(shí)，“隱蔽青年們”會(huì)在小組交談時(shí)靜靜地坐著，亦或根本不看她。漸 漸的，一些人開始參與進(jìn)來。

Vocabulary

hikikomori: 隱蔽青年，蟄居族

social withdrawal: 社交退縮癥

projection: 推測(cè)

plague: 折磨

neuropsychiatry: 神經(jīng)精神病學(xué)

psychiatry: 精神病學(xué)

underpinning: 基礎(chǔ)

autistic: 孤獨(dú)癥的

obsessive-compulsive: 強(qiáng)迫性神經(jīng)(官能)癥的

nonjudgmental: 無偏見的

（譯者：白雪_Cathy 編輯：祝興媛）