Faculty of Medicine, Public Health and Nursing (FKKMK) UGM held a Winter Course on Interprofessional Health Care on February 13-24 2020. The topic covered in this fourth Winter Course is mental health in the millennial era.
“Mental health issues have become the greatest problem we face today. This problem needs to be handled not only by hospitals but also by families and communities,” said the Dean of Faculty of Medicine, Public Health and Nursing (FKKMK) UGM, Prof. dr. Ova Emilia, M.Med.Ed., PhD., SpOG(K), on Tuesday (14/1)
Basic health data research conducted by the Ministry of Health in 2018 indicated that the prevalence of people with severe mental disorders has increased from 0.15 percent to 0.18 percent.
The prevalence of emotional mental disorders in the population aged 15 years old and over also increased from 6.1 percent in 2013 to 9.8 percent in 2018. This means that around 12 million Indonesians aged 15 years and over suffer from depression.
Advances in digital technology and the development of social media are often considered to be one of the causes of the increasing number of cases of mental health disorders, especially gadget addiction. One of the interviewees from University of Sydney, Prof. Hans Pols, said that the device itselfis not dangerous if used wisely.
“A device can be a great functional thing. People who have social anxiety, for example, can support each other because they have smartphones. So, it depends on how it is used,” he said.
One issue among the younger generation that concerns many is the high rate of suicide. Globally, WHO says that more than 800 thousand people die each year from suicide or about 1 person every 40 seconds commits suicide. In many cases, people commit suicide because they suffer from depression.
“60 percent suicide cases happen because of depression. However, most people do not realize that they actually suffer from depression,” said Head of Psychiatry FKKMK, Dr.dr. Carla R. Marchira, Sp.KJ(K).
She also added, in the midst of the circulation of various kinds of information, including information about the mental health itself, the public needs to be wise in sorting out any information and not easily believe the things they heard.
According to her, inaccurate information would only cause more serious problems. She also encourages the public to consult directly with a psychologist or psychiatrist if they have problems related to mental health.
“If you are too shy to go to a psychologist, at least you can go to a counselor. Please look for the most accurate information,” said Carla.
The same thing was stated by Prof. Dr. Firdaus Mukhtar from Malaysia Putra University. However, the number of psychologists or psychiatrists in Indonesia is still limited. Prof. Byron Good from Harvard Medical School said that the number of psychologists and psychiatrists in Indonesia is far below the number needed.
Therefore, he thinks it is necessary to think of a solution to meet these needs, especially in the current era.
“We need to think about creating a system which can solve these problems,” said Byron.
Source: https://www.ugm.ac.id/id/berita/18930-winter-course-fkkmk-ugm-angkat-isu-kesehatan-mental
