TY - JOUR
T1 - Jogging therapy for hikikomori social withdrawal and increased cerebral hemodynamics
T2 - A case report
AU - Nishida, Masaki
AU - Kikuchi, Senichiro
AU - Fukuda, Kazuhito
AU - Kato, Satoshi
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© Nishida et al.
PY - 2016/4/1
Y1 - 2016/4/1
N2 - Severe social withdrawal, called hikikomori, has drawn increased public attention. However, an optimal clinical approach and strategy of treatment has not been well established. Here, we report a case of hikikomori for which an exercise intervention using jogging therapy was effective, showing cerebral hemodynamic improvement. The patient was a 20 year old Japanese male who was hospitalized in order to evaluate and treat severe social withdrawal. Although depressive and anxiety symptoms partially subsided with sertraline alone, social withdrawal persisted due to a lack of self confidence. With his consent, we implemented exercise therapy with 30 minutes of jogging three times a week for three months. We did not change the pharmacotherapy, and his social withdrawal remarkably improved with continuous jogging exercise. Using near infrared spectroscopy to evaluate hemodynamic alteration, bilateral temporal hemodynamics considerably increased after the three-month jogging therapy. Regarding exercise therapy for mental illness, numerous studies have reported the effectiveness of exercise therapy for major depression. This case implied, however, that the applicability of exercise therapy is not limited to major depressive disorder. Jogging therapy may contribute to reinforcing self confidence associated with "resilience" in conjunction with neurophysiological modulation of neural networks.
AB - Severe social withdrawal, called hikikomori, has drawn increased public attention. However, an optimal clinical approach and strategy of treatment has not been well established. Here, we report a case of hikikomori for which an exercise intervention using jogging therapy was effective, showing cerebral hemodynamic improvement. The patient was a 20 year old Japanese male who was hospitalized in order to evaluate and treat severe social withdrawal. Although depressive and anxiety symptoms partially subsided with sertraline alone, social withdrawal persisted due to a lack of self confidence. With his consent, we implemented exercise therapy with 30 minutes of jogging three times a week for three months. We did not change the pharmacotherapy, and his social withdrawal remarkably improved with continuous jogging exercise. Using near infrared spectroscopy to evaluate hemodynamic alteration, bilateral temporal hemodynamics considerably increased after the three-month jogging therapy. Regarding exercise therapy for mental illness, numerous studies have reported the effectiveness of exercise therapy for major depression. This case implied, however, that the applicability of exercise therapy is not limited to major depressive disorder. Jogging therapy may contribute to reinforcing self confidence associated with "resilience" in conjunction with neurophysiological modulation of neural networks.
KW - Actigraphy
KW - Hemodynamics
KW - Hikikomori
KW - Jogging
KW - Near-infrared spectroscopy
KW - Social withdrawal
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U2 - 10.2174/1745017901612010038
DO - 10.2174/1745017901612010038
M3 - Article
C2 - 27346999
AN - SCOPUS:84969164674
VL - 12
SP - 38
EP - 42
JO - Clinical Practice and Epidemiology in Mental Health
JF - Clinical Practice and Epidemiology in Mental Health
SN - 1745-0179
ER -