Japan’s Mainichi Daily News recently published this essay from psychiatrist Rika Kayama about the rise of personal devices like the Walkman and handheld systems, and her belief that it’s partially to blame for many of her patients’ complaints of feeling withdrawn..

An excerpt from Kayama’s article:

“Today’s youth immerse themselves in worlds of their own right before our eyes, where they can live secluded from the rest of us. Feeding into these one person worlds, personal devices such as mobile phones and handheld game systems like the Sony PSP and Nintendo DS come on to the market one after another.

The ‘make your own world anywhere’ idea has gone too far, to the point that even on the train one sees people shamelessly putting on makeup or eating cups of instant noodles as though the train carriage was their own room. …

I feel that an increasing number of people are coming to my office saying, ‘Even when I’m in a crowd I’m lonely.’ Even when they are at a popular singer’s concert or when reading a best-selling novel, these patients can’t feel any solidarity for those next to them or those reading the same book.

Sometimes they consider making an effort to make a real connection with others, such as heading out to a workers’ demonstration or other kinds of activities, but eventually decide not to go, feeling that even if they went to such a gathering, it would be them alone raising their voices.

Some may try to connect with people over the Internet, chatting with others through the medium of the keyboard, but when they turn off the power, the feeling of solidarity with those on the other end of the connection fizzles.

Whether in lively places or not, these patients say, they feel isolated, alienated.”

See also: A love left behind, The DS Life: Missed Connections

[Image via No. 110]

tags / ec / loneliness / walkman / rika kayama / mainichi daily news / essay