Indonesia's Mental Health Landscape

• Locally, the treatment gap for Indonesia for psychosis is the highest at 96.5% among developing countries. 
• According to Indonesia’s 2007 Demography and Health Survey, 11.6 percent of people, 15 years old and above, experienced minor mental health problems such as anxiety and depression while 0.46 percent of the total population of the country experienced serious depression, such as manic depression or schizophrenia (The Jakarta Post, 2011). 
• An estimated 1.1 million Indonesians suffers from serious and chronic mental health issues. Yet only 0.023% of the 2011 Indonesian budget is spent on mental health, given that the health budget accounted for only 2.3% of the total national budget (Suarez, 2011). 
• It is no wonder that there is a severe shortage of mental health services. In a country of almost 240 million people, there are only about 800 psychiatrists out of the recommended 8,000 (if the ratio of 1 psychiatrist : 100,000 population is kept), implying a shortage of 90% (WHO, 2011; The Jakarta Post, 2011)! 
• There are 48 mental hospitals with more than half of these psychiatric hospitals located in four out of 34 provinces. Eight provinces does not have psychiatric hospitals to date. 
• The unequal distribution of mental health services, with concentration in big cities like Jakarta and Surabaya, meant that there is an inherent structural difficulty in access for persons with mental illness(es). Most do not get the services they require and families resort to restraining their children as a result. 
• The phenomenon of pasung has gained the attention of Human Rights Watch and is considered a severe violation of human rights. In 2014, the Mental Health Law was passed, emphasising that “treatments for mentally ill people should ‘provide protection and guarantee services’ and ensure no human rights violations in the process (Jakarta Globe, 2014).” 
• It may still be a long process before most persons with mental illness(es) get treated in Indonesia but the law has created momentum for “Bebas Pasung” the freeing of persons with mental illness(es) who are chained. This is a good sign.