Mental illness stigma prevents cures
Mental illness stigma prevents cures
JAKARTA (JP): Fear of humiliation still pervades the public
and deters people from seeking medical assistance in treating
mental illness.
Dr Nanang, head of Semarang's state-run mental hospital,
lamented the prevailing stigma toward mental institutions and
those inflicted with mental disorders.
"Many people think, mistakenly, that mental hospitals are only
for 'crazy people'," he said in Semarang, Central Java.
Yesterday was National Mental Health Day.
Nanang said people were ashamed to go to hospital when
suffering from mental depression for fear that people would
regard them as insane.
He advised those suffering from mental disorders to seek early
treatment because mental depression, if untreated, can lead to
more serious problems which could heighten the number of juvenile
delinquencies.
In Banda Aceh, Antara reported that 170,000 of Aceh's 3.7
million people suffer from mild mental disorders.
Head of Banda Aceh's state-run mental hospital Syaiful Anwar
said 6,800 of those suffering from mild mental illness need to
undergo special treatment.
He said most of the sufferers live in the eastern part of the
province.
"Most of them come from poor families with poor educational
backgrounds," Syaiful explained.
Experts have said that the upward trend of mental illness is
caused by increased economic demands and the negative effects of
the rapid shift from an agrarian to an industrial society.
Chairman of the Association of Indonesian Psychiatrists Dr.
Dadang Hawari said 80 in every 1,000 Indonesians were mentally
ill.
He also said that one in every 1,000 Indonesians was suffering
from schizophrenia and only very few of them were being treated
in hospitals.
Unfortunately, he said, the overall awareness of these
illnesses is still low and people react to them in a negative
manner. It is not uncommon in some remote areas to find those
regarded as insane in stocks, with their legs locked between two
pieces of wood.
"Even when the patients have completely recovered after
treatment in hospital, their families are often reluctant to
receive them back," Syaiful said. (prb)