n Japan, social withdrawal among young men is now so severe that the Japanese have a very specific term for it: hikikomori. Hiki means “to withdraw,” and komori means “to remain inside.” At least 1.5 million Japanese people, many of whom are young men in their twenties and thirties, have completely withdrawn from society.

They don’t date; they don’t mate; they don’t work; and they don’t socialize. In short, they refrain from doing anything that requires them to leave their hyper-isolated chambers.

Many of these young males are hurting—financially, spiritually, and psychologically.

Up until very recently, hikikomori was considered a culture-bound syndrome, a problem unique to Japan. That is no longer the case. Hikikomori is now a global phenomenon, observed across the world regardless of culture—from Asia to Europe to the United States.

In the U.S., as in Japan, young men are retreating en masse. We are witnessing the rise of the American hikikomori. This sociocultural phenomenon involves a refusal to cooperate or engage with other members of society. Something needs to be done, and fast, because the negative outcomes are piling up.

American males are far more likely to commit suicide than American females by a factor of nearly four. “Deaths of despair,” mostly meaning suicide or drug overdose, have risen rapidly among young and middle-aged men, actually causing a decline in life expectancy. Rather staggeringly, 60% of American men in their twenties are single, and only 50% of single men are seeking a romantic relationship.

This is not normal behavior, and it’s certainly not healthy.

To compound matters, as the political economist Nicolas Eberstadt recently warned, seven million prime working-age men (those between the ages of 25 and 54) are jobless and have no intention of finding work.

What do these men do with their free time? According to Eberstadt, they spend an average of 2,000 hours per year glued to screens. To put that number in perspective, the average American employee spends about the same amount of time working.

To compound matters, 50% of the seven million consume copious amounts of prescription drugs and/or weed, and two-thirds live in a household that receives at least one disability payment every month.

Very few of these men are rolling in riches. Instead, they appear to have just enough to get by: just enough money, just enough drugs, and just enough distractions (porn, video games, etc.). They are in many ways happily sedated, comfortably numb.