The World Psychiatry Journal last year published a paper that documented studies done primarily in Japan on what they called “Hikikomori.” Basically, this means extended social isolation of many members of the public, and its causes.
Researchers guessed it would primarily cover the elderly and stay-at-home parents but were surprised to find it affected so many of the young.
We have all heard folks tell us that even in a crowd, they feel alone. Loneliness is increasingly seen as a stepping stone to more serious mental and physical conditions.
The Dunelm Study carried out in the UK said that one in three British people lay awake at night worrying about household chores, and in the USA, folks were more worried about running out of money and being poor than dying.
Experts in Hikikomori became aware of marked social isolation. The key factor in each case was time spent outside the home. They then extended the criteria of information gathering outside of Japan, where the figures became even more critical.
Many people deliberately avoid social situations and gatherings, which increases their sense of isolation. People need that sense of belonging; their roots are very important at a subliminal level.
The Marxist doctrine of political correctness has made many people afraid to speak of factors that would have been part of neighborly conversations in the past. They also found people were afraid to leave their comfort zones and venture out. However, as social withdrawal continues, this dramatically increases the sense of loneliness and alienation.
The growth of gated communities, where homes are shut off behind locked gates, was seen as one major factor.
Depression and anxiety in all their forms are predictably part and parcel of this, which then increases the sense of being alone. Social withdrawal, either by choice or enforced by circumstances, is now recognized as a serious health issue.
American doctors, in a follow-up study, claim that social isolation has been ignored and seen just as a cultural issue, but said whether it’s an 80-year-old Meals on Wheels recipient or a teenage student living in digs far from home, the results are the same.
Indians have very close family units and look after their aged, but in the West, we tend to leave home and live more independent lives.
Many youngsters just communicate through Facebook or by computer and texting, and not face-to-face. Whole relationships are now being made and carried out in this way.
In the UK, where British subjects are now heavily outnumbered by foreign migrants, many people live in towns where the library, post office, pub, corner shop, bus service, dental, and doctors’ surgeries have closed, and their neighbors do not speak English. This has meant Hikikomori, or enforced isolation, is commonplace, and suicides among the British people have skyrocketed. The official figures in the UK for 2019 are 5,000 mainly young suicides. Samaritans counseling services say the real figures are much higher.
Some years back, I was a college counselor and was shocked at the number who used drugs, alcohol, and self-harming as escape mechanisms from loneliness. When I was a radio psychic agony uncle, loneliness was the most common phone-in topic.
I was asked by the library to hold a meetup day there for single mothers and preschool children. The library room could hold up to 20 of what I called “Mums and Tots.” The first week, we had 43 mums show up. The next week, it was 75.
Look at This Handprint
If you have any of these signals, please be concerned:
- A hand totally covered in lines: This is technically called a “full hand” and shows too much going on. It’s an anxiety signal and often seen in insomnia and nocturnal restlessness. This is also seen where antibiotics kill off all the stomach bacteria and flora, good and bad.
- A much shorter first than third finger: This shows very low self-esteem. When curved like this, it infers an overstrict or emotionally unavailable father. This is the prime cause in women for low self-esteem, self-sabotage, and self-harming issues.
- Lines up and across the fingertips: This shows adrenal burnout. The thyroid here looks very poor.
- The headline is forked, showing indecision, which is a major cause of anxiety. The lower branch hits the Moon mount. This shows over-imagination. In medieval times, this was seen as the moon controlling the brain. Modern research claims that the moon rules all the tides of the earth—in fact, all bodies of water, plus all the bodily fluids, including what is in the brain. So, again, this shows the ancients were correct.
- The lifeline goes wobbly and changes course at approximately age 50. This is the tipping point.
Prognosis
I recommended my clients take homeopathic kelp, a seaweed rich in thyroxin; take a natural, real yogurt last thing at night to replace all good gut bacteria; and use a gentle herbal soporific such as Nitol or Kalms. Being natural, your body will not fight it. These are mild, non-addictive quieteners. A regular daily mixed vitamin pill and taking up yoga and meditation are also advised.
Happy Palmistry!
For more info, see my book, 50 Case Studies in Modern Palmistry. Whole lives read from emailed hand photos. Contact: tstokes55@hotmail.co.uk | www.tstokes.co.uk
T Stoke
Holistic palmist with 60 years of practice, author, and teacher Jungian Holistic Chirology, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and karmic analysis.
