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)