THE INFLUENCE OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES ON THE SOCIAL WITHDRAWAL (HIKIKOMORI SYNDROME) AMONG DEVELOPED COMMUNITIES, INCLUDING POLAND

Hikikomori social withdrawal syndrome was first diagnosed in Japan and means a person who has been isolated from society to an extreme degree. She/he does not attend school or go to work. They do not attend university, they constantly remain at home and most often keep contact with the outside world using new technologies. Hikikomori syndrome is most often recognized as a characteristic problem occurring among Asian societies. Meanwhile, the growing dependence on new technologies among Western societies, and in particular, on the Internet, has caused social withdrawal to become a global problem. Human relationships began to move from the real world to the virtual world, which nowadays is full of communication facilities and allows people to establish relationships with other people without leaving their homes with the help of social media, which are currently packed with advanced solutions connecting people of similar interests or views. All this means that nowadays it is easy to withdraw from physical social life without losing virtual contact with others.