Teen hermits: "America is at risk of becoming an Acute Social Withdrawal nation - inward-looking and very cold to outsiders," says Jerry Koepp, a volunteer youth director in an Orlando-based rehabilitation program sponsored by the American Health Association (AHA). "It is simply a consequence of a social system that has collapsed. As more and more of our young people refuse to assimilate into mainstream culture and reject our core values, the more likely we are to follow in Japan's footsteps. I think the number of Acute Social Withdrawal will increase exponentially in the years ahead."

Acute Social Withdrawal, either a medical condition or a social phenomenon (researchers aren't in agreement), is defined as "a complete withdrawal from society by an individual for more than six months." In the US in 2002, there were more than 5,200 reported cases of young people, mainly boys between 16 and 20, holing up in their bedrooms; in Japan, the rates are much higher, with one million kids affected by the disorder.