The Impact of Stigma on the Relation Dynamics of the People of Mental Illness and His Family

摘要

Mental illness is one of the issues that has been increasingly considered as a serious health problem in Indonesia. The number of mental illness cases in Indonesia is quite high. However, many issues related to mental illness has not been addressed seriously such as low public awareness. This paper is based on the author's experience working as a professional intern in Dr. Radjiman Wediodiningrat Mental Hospital, Malang, East Java working with a schizophrenic patient. Observing the patient and his relation to family, the author found that the family has acted more as stressor than as support system to him. This is one obstacle in overcoming mental illness despite the low public awareness on mental illness. In addition, people with mental illness experience negative stigma in the community which add to problem in treating mental illness. Moreover, low public knowledge about mental illness often lead to delay in giving treatment for people with mental illness. These are among the risk factors that can increase the incidence of mental illness in Indonesia. This paper tries to see alternative strategy that may be applied to address these issues. It is the promotion of mental health literacy intervention which should involve various stakeholders, including government institutions, community leaders, religious leaders, family members and educators.