Jakartans rushing to mental hospitals

JAKARTA: The number of mentally ill people in Jakarta has risen dramatically over the past month, so much so that four government mental institutions in Jakarta were overwhelmed, Tempo Interaktif reported on Thursday.

"This month alone we have admitted 118 mentally ill people, today eight more were admitted," Bambang Sugeng, head of the city's Mental Guidance Social Welfare Agency, said.

He said that the usual number of people admitted to the mental institutions was five to six persons per day, but that has risen to between 10 to 20 people a day during the past month.

He also said that the government's institutions in Cengkareng, West Jakarta; Cipayung, East Jakarta; Daan Mogot, West Jakarta; and Bambu Apus, East Jakarta, could no longer support the increasing number of mentally ill people. --JP