Recovered mental patients long to go home
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
When asked about his family background, Idris, 36, had no problems in delivering logical stories fluently. And apart from his penchant for smiling, there is nothing indicating that he has just recovered from a severe mental illness.
Despite his recent recovery, Idris, is stuck in the Soeharto Herjan mental hospital in Grogol, West Jakarta, as there are no family members or friends willing to take him home.
As of now, there are a large number of patients like Idris who must live in the hospital because of the unwillingness of families to have them around them.
"There is nobody from my family, who wants to visit me, let alone take me home," he told The Jakarta Post.
He was once told that his wife was now remarried.
Idris, a native Jakartan, was taken to the mental institution six months ago after a breakdown due to severe stress.
"I once worked as a bus conductor in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, but the small pittance I got as pay made me quit," he smiled, adding that he did not have another job to go to.
Another sober-looking patient, Zakaria, 33, has been living in the mental institution for the last six years.
A man with a fair complexion, Zakaria told the Post that in fact he had been employed by the institution as a janitor.
"I made some money to meet a variety of my basic needs," bespectacled Zakaria said.
There is no one from his family who intends to take him home. In fact some of his family members took advantage of him being employed by the mental institution.
"My family is so poor that my father even asks me for money," he said.
If Zakaria and Idris never confronted rejection from their families directly, Johnny Purwadinata, 30, did.
"My father threatened to kill me if I dare to step inside my family's house," Johnny said.
Instead of comforting him, his mother who often visited him, said discouraging words against her son to nurses. Such conduct, according to the nurses, would only hamper his path towards regaining full sanity.