As it turns out, the cause of my "Hikikomori-ism" was in fact depression, and my parents decided it would be appropriate to take me to a psychiatrist, who prescribed me some medication, and within weeks I became much less withdrawn, and before I knew it, I had started going to university.

Unfortunately for my online friend, >>132, my disappearance from the internet stopped providing him with the only support that kept him going, as we had so much in common. Eventually, he made the news as he committed suicide by jumping off the platform right in front of a passenger train.