Mental illness is still considered a fairly taboo topic in Indonesia. The state of mental health care in Indonesia varies widely from region to region but in general there are not even close to enough mental health professionals or facilities in the country. Due to a lack of options and/or sense of shame due to the stigmatization of mental illness, many sufferers are locked up or even chained up by their families.
Which is why we applaud Jakarta Vice Governor Sandiaga Uno for talking about the high percentage of Jakartans who are affected by mental illnesses when talking to the media yesterday.
“Twenty percent of Jakarta residents have mental disorders, so here, among our friends here (for example), there are 10 people, so two of us have mental illnesses, maybe I am one of them,” Sandiaga said at Jakarta City Hall yesterday as quoted by Kompas.
Sandiaga said that he got that statistic from the Jakarta Health Office, but that 20% number is consistent with the percentage of people with mental illnesses around the world in countries like the US and Australia.
The vice governor’s comments to the media came after a meeting related to the construction of a new mental health facility, to be built at the Duren Sawit Regional Hospital (RSKD) that will be called the Jakarta Institute for Mental Health and will focus specifically on psychiatric problems.
Sandiaga said mental health issues are very important now due to the rising number of incidents involving suicide, social persecution, and violence against women and children. He also noted that Jakartans are especially vulnerable to depression due to heavy economic, social and educational pressures.
Work on the Jakarta Institute for Mental Health initiative is set to start by late February.
