Jakartans rushing to mental hospitals

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