\n<\/p>\n
Parents may also inadvertently reinforce their child’s withdrawal while trying to care for them, said experts.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ms Andrea Chan, head of counselling and psychological services at TOUCH, described one case involving a young man who became discouraged after several job interviews damaged his confidence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Eventually, he stopped sending out resumes and spent his days gaming at home, while his family continued providing for his daily needs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOftentimes, parents feel very helpless, but they feel they cannot be heartless,\u201d said Ms Chan.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018But when we continue feeding them \u2026 that actually enables them as \u2026 (they\u2019re) not spending a cent, (they\u2019re) being fed, there\u2019s no need (for them) to do anything.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Continuing to meet all of a withdrawn person’s needs can remove reasons for them to leave the house or become more independent, she added.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Support groups can also reassure caregivers that they are not struggling alone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cVery often, parents find relief after knowing that what they are going through is not unique and that other families are going through similar things,\u201d said Mr Yeo.\u00a0<\/p>\n
One father, who wanted to be known only as Mr Tan, knows how difficult it can be \u2013 \u00a0his 24-year-old son began withdrawing after completing his A-levels and National Service.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What began as university burnout developed into anxiety. He eventually dropped out and isolated himself in his bedroom.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery time we wanted to engage him, we had to knock on his door and wait for him to reply. (He) was very non-responsive. We were very worried, anxious about all this. We didn\u2019t know what his future is going to be like,\u201d said Mr Tan.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHis room would be very messy because he rarely cleaned it. There would be leftover food, empty packaging and other things left in his room. He also wouldn’t shower very often.\u201d<\/p>\n
For a long time, the family struggled alone before approaching Fei Yue for help.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Social workers suggested an unexpected solution \u2013 adopting a pet. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe got a dog and then now our son is taking care of the dog and it’s kind of regulated his lifestyle already,\u201d said Mr Tan.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s waking up early. Nowadays his door is open because the dog wants to go into his room, and (with) the whole family taking care of the dog, it really helps.\u201d<\/p>\n
The family also began doing more together \u2013 eating meals, going for walks, visiting different places and playing games.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAs parents, no matter what, we still love him. We wish him all the best that he can walk out his room, of the house and get back into society,\u201d said Mr Tan.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Social service agencies say the process takes time. When hidden adults are ready to step outside, social workers can help them prepare for interviews and explore job opportunities.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Despite growing attention, there is no national study establishing how many hidden adults there are in Singapore.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That leaves social service agencies without a clear picture of the scale of the phenomenon.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mr Yeo said there is currently no dedicated funding for work involving hidden adults and their caregivers. Fei Yue said funding would allow it to recruit social workers and develop programmes to engage hidden adults and help reintegrate them into society.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Other countries have attempted to quantify severe social withdrawal.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In Japan, where the phenomenon is often associated with the term hikikomori, about 1.4 million people have been estimated to be living in social isolation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In South Korea, about 5 per cent of young adults are estimated to be in deep social isolation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In Italy, about 100,000 cases have been documented and China has seen a trend of \u201clying flat\u201d, where people live off parents and withdraw from society.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In Singapore, however, the true number remains unknown.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Social workers expect reported cases to continue rising as awareness grows.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They also stress that families should not wait until someone has been isolated for months before seeking advice.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Early intervention can be crucial, experts said, particularly because the causes of withdrawal are rarely straightforward.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For YGOS’ Ms Tan, reaching hidden adults means meeting them where they are \u2013 even if that means spending hours inside an online game.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The aim is not to immediately persuade them to leave their homes, but to build enough trust for them to eventually take that step themselves.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s about being consistent in journeying with them,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOur end goal is to be able to bring them out of isolation, for them to adapt in this society and find a job to support themselves. It\u2019s about showing them that a safe space can be found in the physical world.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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A LONG ROAD OUT OF ISOLATION\u00a0 Parents may also inadvertently reinforce their child’s withdrawal while trying to care for them, said experts.\u00a0 Ms Andrea Chan,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":81611,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/dam.mediacorp.sg\/image\/upload\/s--IDxS0Plh--\/c_fill,g_auto,h_676,w_1200\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1\/mediacorp\/cna\/image\/2026\/09\/02\/istock_social_recluse_hidden_adults_hikikomori.jpg?itok=MwQjennn","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1570,14737,3020,500,29349,22,811,4041],"class_list":["post-81610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buzz-news-sg-global","tag-adults","tag-emerging","tag-hidden","tag-online","tag-outreach","tag-singapore","tag-social","tag-workers","wpcat-2-id"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=81610"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81610\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/81611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=81610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=81610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=81610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}