Center for Public Mental Health of Faculty of Psychology UGM (CPMH GM )encourages regional governments to support Indonesia Free of Stocks Movement. Stocks are restraining devices to handcuff people. In facts, there are more than 400 thousands of Indonesian people who suffer mental illness and around 57 thousand until 60 thousand of them were placed in stocks. These stocks cases can be caused by the non-optimal mental health service system for the community.
A researcher from CPMH UGM, Dr. Diana Setiawati P., M.Hsc.Psy said placing a mental disorder patient in stocks often happens due to the lack of public literation regarding mental health, social and economic factors, as well as difficult access to mental health service. According to Diana, stocks are not only found in Indonesia but also other countries. However, since 2010, Indonesia has free stocks movement program and ratified Law Number 18 in 2014 regarding mental health. “However, the progress we have achieved is still very slow, this law has yet to be fully implemented,” said Diana to journalists on Thursday (30/11).
Indonesia free of stocks movement, according to Diana, required support from the central and regional governments by identifying the cases in their region, enhancing the medical workforce’s skills regarding mental health, optimizing health centers including centers for public health, as well as directly detecting the patient who is indicated of suffering mental disorder.
One of the activities done by CPMH UGM is addressing stocks cases in Kebumen Regency by developing mental health system, collaborating with the regional government as well as initiating the establishment of a center for mental health rehabilitation in order to enhance the capacity in implementing an effective advocacy method towards the mental disorder patients.
A mental health expert at Melbourne University, Australia, Prof. Harry Minas, said placing mental disorder patients in stocks is considered as a human rights violation. According to Minas, it violates the right of the patient to obtain health service. “Aside from violating the human rights, the people who are placed in stocks would not be treated or healed, thus they will suffer more,” said Minas.
However, according to Minas, there are still mindset and cultures in the community that deem placing the patients in stocks is one of the ways to cure their mental illness or protect them, thus they will not disturb other people. “As a matter of fact, the community and the family do not have the right to place the patients in stocks,” he added.
According to Minas, the patients are supposed to be treated in the public health center or psychiatric hospital. However, the facts show some doctors or nurses in the public health center cannot recognize the clinical symptoms of patients who suffer from a mental disorder. “Not all doctors and nurses obtain mental health training,” said Minas.