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View all search resultsIndonesia records high rate of depression, anxiety among children
The Health Ministry has reported a high prevalence of depression and anxiety among Indonesian children, affecting around 10 percent of them, about five times the rate recorded among adults and elderly, with bullying and academic pressure among the key risk factors.
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Stock illustration of mental health problems among children. (Courtesy of /Shutterstock)
T
he Health Ministry has reported a high prevalence of depression and anxiety among Indonesian children, affecting around 10 percent, about five times the rate recorded among adults and elderly, with bullying and academic pressure among the key risk factors.
The findings emerged from the government’s free health check program over the past year, which recorded roughly 363,326 children showing symptoms of depression and 383,316 exhibiting signs of anxiety disorders. The program has so far screened around 7 million out of an estimated 25 million children nationwide.
“This shows that mental health is a serious problem in the country that we previously failed to detect,” Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said in a recent press briefing.
He also cited data from the Global School-Based Student Health Survey (GSHS), conducted in coordination with the Indonesian government, which found a rise in the number of children reporting suicidal thoughts, from 5.2 percent in 2015 to 8.5 percent in 2023. Over the same period, the proportion of students who had attempted suicide increased from 3.9 percent to 10.7 percent.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) recorded at least 115 children who died by suicide between 2023 and 2025.
Read also: Child suicide exposes Indonesia’s mental health gap
Risk factors
