Is Komi-san 'Communication-Impaired' or Not? (Selective Mutism and High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder)

There is an anime on Netflix called 'Komi Can't Communicate,' and as a specialist in communication disorders, I thought I should check it out. I found it very interesting and it gave me a lot to think about from a professional perspective.

“Komi Can't Communicate” is an anime adaptation of a manga. While the story is a straightforward romantic comedy, the characterization of the high school heroine, Shoko Komi, is unique. Despite being so beautiful and intelligent that everyone turns to look at her, she experiences extreme anxiety and tension, making her almost unable to speak in public, so she communicates through writing. Because she has had these traits since childhood, she has never been able to make a single friend.

The other protagonist, Hitohito Tadano, is, as his name suggests, an ordinary and average high school boy. While his looks and intelligence are completely 'normal,' he happens to sit next to Komi when they enter high school. Upon hearing about her struggle with not having friends, he decides to help her make 100 friends by graduation. Please watch the manga or anime for the story itself.

If I were to describe the heroine Komi-san's traits medically, her intellectual level is undoubtedly quite high, and she appears to be the type without significant unevenness in her abilities. Her primary trait is 'anxiety disorder,' and she is extremely sensitive to 'evaluation by others'—such as what people think of her or how she is perceived. As a result, she has been diagnosed with selective mutism, a condition where she cannot speak in front of others, including at school. People with selective mutism can usually speak normally at home, but in Komi-san's case, she and her family are so in tune with each other that she communicates without much verbal conversation even at home.

As I wrote in 'School Refusal Due to Anxiety Disorder,' people with this type of high anxiety are prone to school refusal. However, in the case of selective mutism, some children are able to attend school because the mutism itself helps them maintain a sense of mental safety and balance.

As described, while Komi-san's primary trait is an anxiety disorder, from a specialist's perspective, there is another point of concern: she also exhibits features of autism spectrum disorder, albeit mild ones. In fact, given the family history—where her father also displays more obvious signs of autism spectrum disorder—it is expected that Komi-san would have those traits as well.

Autism spectrum disorder is characterized by difficulty understanding others' feelings, resulting in poor communication skills, as well as a dislike for change and strong fixations. Many people are diagnosed during childhood when they encounter difficulties in interpersonal relationships during group activities like school. However, for girls like Komi-san who have high general intellectual ability (i.e., IQ) and are also highly anxious and reserved, their intelligence and modesty often prevent them from having trouble during early childhood and elementary school, causing their traits to be overlooked. They then reach adolescence, and at the stage where interpersonal relationships become highly sophisticated and complex, these traits often manifest in a way that causes the individual distress, as seen with Komi-san. This type is sometimes called 'high-functioning autism spectrum disorder,' and it is actually very difficult to identify in women with this condition.

The type of person who, like Komi-san, has an anxiety disorder (selective mutism) combined with mild high-functioning autism spectrum disorder often struggles in junior high school. They fail to navigate the highly high-context peer relationships of Japanese junior high school girls—who are not yet fully mature—leading to a loss of confidence. Their already low self-esteem drops further, and they become increasingly anxious. Usually, this leads to school refusal. In the story, Komi-san is depicted as having a very difficult time in junior high, but because she is good at her studies, she manages to avoid school refusal and enters a high school for students with unique personalities.

As is the case in reality, high school offers more diversity compared to junior high, allowing students to choose an environment that suits them. Furthermore, as classmates gradually mature into adults, their tolerance for others increases. Even if someone was isolated during junior high, they often regain their confidence and recover as they build appropriate boundaries and friendships after entering high school.

The other protagonist, Tadano-kun, is an 'ordinary' high school student who grows alongside Komi-san. The high school they attend is filled with students who have incredibly strong personalities: those with high anxiety like Komi-san, those who are highly dependent on others, those who are narcissistic, and those with clear symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Because of this environment, Tadano-kun, being 'normal' and 'average,' is initially completely unremarkable, but he gradually demonstrates the brilliance of being 'normal.' In fact, Tadano-kun was not originally 'normal'; he is someone who properly overcame his 'chuunibyou' (middle school syndrome) to become 'normal,' and he has mastered the developmental tasks appropriate for his age. He also has a very high 'mentalizing ability,' the capacity to understand others' feelings and act accordingly. On the other hand, he also possesses the slight obliviousness typical of a high school boy, which sometimes works to encourage the other person's autonomous change. He is clearly a character with a natural talent for interpersonal support roles, like a counselor.

As a story, it is about children with various personalities who, while demonstrating their respective strengths and weaknesses, gradually become kinder to themselves and others. It made me think that it would be wonderful if, even in reality, children with slightly difficult traits could grow up together with friends in such an environment.

By the way, the title uses the term 'komi-sho' (communication-impaired). 'Komi-sho' seems to be a term used without a strict definition, and it is strictly different from 'komi-sho' (communication disorder) in the sense of the qualitative communication impairment of autism spectrum disorder. In Komi-san's case, I believe it is used to describe her inability to communicate except through writing due to selective mutism caused by anxiety. However, as I have written, I diagnose Komi-san as having a mild 'komi-sho' aspect of high-functioning autism spectrum disorder as well. It seems the author did not use medical knowledge to coin the term 'komi-sho,' but it aligns with the recent trend of various mental illnesses being referred to as 'syndromes' rather than 'disorders,' which shows the author's wonderful sense and sensibility.

Although it is an anime and there are some exaggerated parts, I believe that media that clearly conveys how children and young people with these traits feel, what they struggle with, how to support them, and what can be done to help them move forward is actually more important than receiving a medical diagnosis.