One Puskesmas, One Psychologist: If MBG Can, What About Mental Health?

The Indonesian government is zealously implementing nutritional interventions as a means of fulfilling the physical needs of vulnerable groups, from pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers to toddlers and schoolchildren. The underlying argument is that inadequate nutrition leads to stunting and malnutrition in children. We can debate and critique the methods of intervention, as this is undoubtedly the best way to find the right model. We agree that these interventions are crucial. But let’s set aside the methods for now. Is the physical health intervention through the MBG programme sufficient to achieve Golden Indonesia 2045? In my opinion, it is not enough, because there is another issue of equal importance: mental health. Data shows that this problem is as serious as physical health issues like stunting and malnutrition. Physical health appears proletarian, while mental health seems elitist. Now, let us view it comprehensively: physical and mental health are equally important. If MBG, which did not exist before, can suddenly materialise—like abracadabra with the incantation ‘if it exists, let it be so’ in just a few months—then mental health interventions are far more ready in terms of established infrastructure across various aspects, from physical facilities to human resources. The government does not need to worry about finding investors to build buildings; we already have puskesmas throughout Indonesia, even in every sub-district, and we have many psychology graduates, and so on. This means that government intervention in mental health would not be as expensive as the MBG programme. Why is the mental health issue as important as physical health? According to the Basic Health Research (Riskesdas), more than 19 million Indonesians aged over 15 have emotional mental disorders. Meanwhile, over 12 million in the same age range experience depression. These figures are outdated, and government interventions remain half-hearted. Even the latest research from the Caucus of Mental Health Care Society notes that post-2024 elections, the prevalence of anxiety disorders in society has risen to 16 per cent. The prevalence of moderate-to-severe depression stands at 17.1 per cent, far above the Riskesdas data which only recorded 9.8 per cent. This trend is not an anomaly; it is a consistent increasing pattern. Young people are the most vulnerable to mental health disorders. This is evidenced by the 2022 National Adolescent Mental Health Survey (I-NAMHS), which found that 1 in 3 Indonesian adolescents—equivalent to 15.5 million people—have mental health problems in the past 12 months. However, of that number, only 2.6 per cent have ever accessed counselling or psychological support services. The question is why? The simple answer is that mental health services are still distant, far from the reach of the public. Two point six per cent. Out of 15.5 million adolescents with problems, only hundreds of thousands are touched by services. The rest swallow everything on their own, or do not know where to go. They might choose other paths: brawls, drugs, criminality, alcohol, or even the extreme of suicide. These numbers can be debated.