Mental health is a current issue for all. It is a popular issue in social media, made popular by content creators’ posts. This was the key point given by Dorkas Febria, S.H. during a podcast discussion with other host, Dunung Sukocowati, S.H. on Ngobrol Bareng YAPHI (NGO-PHI) in YouTube of Yayasan YAPHI. The podcast features psychiatrist dr. Maria Rini Indriarti, Sp. K. J., M. Kes

The World Schizophrenia Day celebration is a campaign event on how communities may get to know schizophrenia as it is important issue that may affect human life. People may know it as a serious mental health problem. Why a serious mental health problem? Because it has all the symptoms such as loss of ability to understand reality.

dr. Maria Rini offers an example about loss of ability to understand reality – including wrong belief that a person may passionately holds, for example: a thought of "being chased" – believing that something a going to happen – that a group of people or certain conditions threaten the person and the person’s life,. "The person feels thretened, so she/she would try hard to defend himself or herself, by carrying a weapon, and perhaps, by displaying cautious behaviour towards other people, or groups, so when other people/groups speak, this person believes that those people or groups talk about him/her. So he/she than makes a plan to cause injury," says dr. Maria.

dr. Maria continues that the person fully believes that it is happening to him/her, and this is hallucination. The latter is a form of perception disturbance. Hence, when a person perceives that something, i.e. a stimulation that he/she gets through his/her senses, such as through his/her eyes, and he/she processes that stimulation in the brain and the brain says, "Oh there is a beautiful woman," and he/she processes that into, "Oh, there is this voice/noise. That noise is directed towards me, and so on. This is a form of disturbance in a person perception," explains dr. Maria Rini, Sp. K. J.

A person who has fear carries a weapon, while other people do not understand what this person is thinking or saying. Hence, it is critically important for community to understand schizophrenia so that they can help manage the condition, and understand the emergency for saving a person’s life.

Someone with mental issue will generate impacts if communities do not act to lend its support. When the community do not pay attention to its surrounding, the person with schizophrenia may become worst.

With progress in information, education and communication, mental disorders can be managed better and immediately. Yet there are still people or communities who do not have access to information and hence have lack of understanding about how to manage schizophrenia.

It is not surprise that people with schizophrenia are ostracised by communities – in the sense that they are confined in a room, in order to limit their movement, and hence their life. People with schizophrenia are confined in a small room, and/or be put in chain.

The existing integrated health post in community may help by opening its doors to families who need help deal with schizophrenia, and not let the issue become out of control and create new issues. The post could also help people with schizophrenia to understand themselves, that “they need help.”

dr. Maria Rini acknowledges that stigma in community remains high. It is therefore important to provide education in community in order to address the stigma. (Ast)