Common misperception on mental illness lamented
Common misperception on mental illness lamented
JAKARTA (JP): An expert has lamented the common misperception
that people have about mental illness and mental institutions.
"Many people think, mistakenly, that mental hospitals are only
for 'crazy people'," Slamet Oetomo Gardjito from the Ministry of
Health said at a one-day symposium on juvenile delinquency in
Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, yesterday.
Antara quoted Slamet as saying that global development and
change, which have occurred too quickly for most people to cope
with, have resulted in the increased incidence of mental
disturbances, ranging from light to severe.
"The people that the public considers as 'crazy' make up a
small part of society who suffer forms of mental illness, while a
mental hospital is a place where those who are mentally disturbed
can receive care and treatment," said Slamet, who is head of the
mental health and medical services department at the ministry.
Slamet, however, noted that there has been an improvement in
public awareness on the importance of mental health treatment, as
seen by the increasing demand for mental hospital services.
According to Slamet, all segments of society, except for
children, could be treated at mental hospitals when they suffer
light or severe mental illness.
He identified three main factors that increased the
possibility of people suffering mental illness: a person's
physical condition, a person's psychological condition and a
person's surrounding environment.
Slamet said that a person suffering malaria may be affected
mentally.
He admitted that mental hospitals in Indonesia needed to
improve their services and the quality of their personnel.
"When the quality of human resources has been increased, the
scope and service of mental health will also hopefully improve,"
he said.
Chairman of the Association of Indonesian Psychiatrists Dr.
Dadang Hawari said last year that 80 in every 1,000 Indonesians
were mentally ill. He predicted that within the next 25 years
this figure would rise 400 percent.
He also said that one in every 1,000 Indonesians was suffering
from schizophrenia and that this figure would increase by 200
percent over the next 25 years.
Only 10 percent of the people suffering schizophrenia are
treated by hospitals; the other sufferers seek non-medical
treatment from paranormal or traditional healers.
Experts have said that the upward trend in the incidence of
mental illness was caused by people's increased economic burdens
and the negative impact of the rapid shift from an agrarian to an
industrial society.
Indonesia does not have enough psychiatrists. There are only
380 psychiatrists for 190 million people. (14)