Mental health in IndonesiaMental health in Indonesia
All In The Mind
Mental health is a major and highly stigmatised problem in Indonesia. Some villages still practise ‘pasung’ where the mentally ill are kept in cages separate from the family home—because of a taboo. Indonesian PhD candidate Sandy Onie had his own lived experience of mental illness, and so did his father—but psychological help was hard to come by. Now Sandy is determined to make a change.
29:07•2 Jun 2019
Mental Health, Stigma and Silent Suffering in Indonesia
Episode Overview
- Stigma and shame around mental illness in Indonesia can lead to secrecy, isolation and even physical confinement through practices like pasung.
- Low mental health literacy and beliefs about punishment from God or black magic often stop people from seeking professional help.
- There is a severe shortage of trained psychologists and a weak research culture, leaving many therapies without strong local evidence.
- Personal stories from Sandy, his father and Dewi show how untreated depression, panic attacks and eating disorders can go unrecognised for years.
- New initiatives, including internet-based CBT and mental health first aid programmes, aim to raise awareness and bring support directly into communities.
“"Above all, I think what we really need in Indonesia is to tell people it's okay to not be okay."”
Understand the complexities of addiction and mental illness with this striking look at mental health in Indonesia, where stigma and taboo still shape how people suffer and seek help. You’ll hear how conditions like depression, anxiety, psychosis and eating disorders can be hidden behind polite smiles and pressure to appear "strong and perfect".
PhD candidate Sanderson (Sandy) Oney shares his own history of depression and suicidal thoughts, and how returning to Indonesia for school retreats revealed just how widespread mental distress is among young people. His father, Susanto Oney, describes enduring panic attacks for 26 years while doctors insisted he was "completely healthy", and the deep shame he faced at even considering seeing a psychiatrist.
Clinical psychologist Rati Ibrahim lays out stark statistics: millions living with depression and emotional disorders, and a significant number experiencing "pasung"—being chained or locked in cages away from the family home because they’re seen as dangerous or cursed. She explains how superstition, black magic beliefs, family shame and low mental health literacy all feed into harmful responses to illness.
Another psychologist, Dr Ido Sebastian Jaya, highlights the shortage of clinicians, weak research culture and patchy ethics systems that make consistent, evidence-based care difficult in a country of almost 280 million people. Dewi, a student who moved from Indonesia to Australia, talks openly about an eating disorder she hid from her family and friends, feeling that people back home would "make a joke out of it instead of being serious about it".
Her story echoes Sandy’s view that Indonesians carry their cultural attitudes with them, even when they live in a country with more support. Despite the challenges, Sandy is working on internet-delivered therapy, large-scale research and mental health first aid training to get practical support to ordinary Indonesians.
His simple message cuts through: "It’s okay to not be okay." If you’re curious how culture can affect whether someone ever gets help, this episode might get you thinking about what needs to change in your own community too.
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