One of the readings assigned was “Culture and the definition of mental illness” by Arthur Kleinman. In this reading he talks about the culture-bound syndrome, or folk illness. Culture-bound syndrome is a disease or illness that is only recognized within a specific area or culture. I have a close friend of mine who is in the military was stationed in Japan for over two years. When he was home he talked to me about all the things that he experienced and specifically talked about a family he got close to over the course of his time. He explained to me that there was an odd illness or syndrome that one of the teenagers had and he called it, “Hikikomori.” He explained it to me and said that its when someone isolates themselves from the world and
