THE AUSTRALIAN, April 30, 2002
Indonesia in 'mental distress
INDONESIA is a nation in severe mental distress, a Jakarta-based neuro-psychiatrist
says.
In a controversial paper to be delivered to a Brisbane conference tomorrow, Suharko
Kasran, of the Trisakti University, argues Indonesia is exhibiting symptoms not unlike
an individual in mental distress - restlessness, anxiety, fear and phobia, paranoia,
irritability, aggression and psychosis.
He said the nation of 200 million people was riddled with psychotic behaviours -
savagery, vengeance, hatred and vindictiveness.
"In some areas, beheading and cannibalism are still implemented although it is
prohibited by law," Dr Kasran says in a research paper.
"Terrorism ... killings, house burning, school building burning, bombings, burning of
vehicles, buses, motorcycles have become ... daily news in the special province of
Aceh and other places like Poso.
"It is becoming more and more common to have people taking the law into their own
hands by lynching and burning suspects to death even without specific reasons."
Dr Kasran will present his findings to the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of
Psychiatrists' congress in Brisbane tomorrow.
He said Indonesian youth were exhibiting a decreasing sense of responsibility with
drug abuse on the rise and student brawls common.
Ethnic conflicts were also frequent.
Dr Kasran said the Indonesian Government was at least partly to blame for failing to
embrace the importance of national character building.
He said the nation had unclear values, ethics and moral development.
"A state of paranoia and negative personal accusations seem to dominate the political
arena even when the country is in dire crisis," Dr Kasran said.
He has recommended a behavioural modification program implemented through
teachers to alleviate the situation.
"Teachers are the agents of change that are most accepted by each ethnic group
living in Indonesia, marked by plurality of religions and social economic variations," Dr
Kasran says in his paper.
He also called on the International Monetary Fund to switch its focus from a country's
physical and economic development to improving a nation's mental health.
© The Australian
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