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Volunteers, professionals collaborate to address mental illness
You're not alone: Participants gather for a meetup organized by mental health community Alpas
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You're not alone: Participants gather for a meetup organized by mental health community Alpas.(JP/Audrie Safira Maulana)
A stigma is still attached to mental illness in the minds of many Indonesians.
Indonesian society still perceives mental illness as something either trivial or irrational. Ironically, a large portion of the population suffers from mental illness.
A latest study by global public opinion and data company YouGov finds that 27 percent of Indonesians have had suicidal thoughts. The actual figure could be higher, given that Indonesians by and large are embarrassed to open up about mental illness.
Indonesian mental health communities have been increasing efforts to raise public awareness and aid mentally ill people. One of those communities is Alpas, which takes its name from a Tagalog word that means “to become free”.
Alpas was set up in early 2019 on the initiative of four youngsters who had worked together as volunteers at another mental health community. Their main purpose is to eliminate the stigma of mental health issues through a variety of ways.
“There is still an assumption that people going to a psychologist are simply crazy […], and there are also factors that contribute to the stigma, including a lack of facilities, limited access [to professional help], the cost and so on. Therefore, many sufferers choose to keep quiet,” Alpas cofounder Olphi Disya Arinda told The Jakarta Post.
Alpas sees itself as a place of first aid for people who are in need of a companion and might be suffering from mental illness. In free consultation sessions through Alpas’ LINE account @curhatalpas, people can open up to Alpas’ peer counselors, who are volunteers with a background in psychology.
The counselors might refer them to professional help for serious issues.
“If they show signs of severe issues, we can try to refer them to a psychologist or a psychiatrist for further help,” explained Olphi.
Olphi said professional help was important for those suffering severely because not everyone could provide proper mental health consultation.
If sufferers spoke about their problems with the wrong person, their mental illnesses would most likely get worse.
Nowadays, especially in the Indonesian social media sphere, people love to “romanticize” mental illness whenever someone famous commits suicide.
For example, when Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington committed suicide in 2017, a number of “social media influencers” with no background or credentials in mental health told their followers to send them direct messages if they suffered from depression, so that they could talk about it.
Giving a depressed person a shoulder to lean on seems like a noble thing to do, but there are consequences that need to be considered before sharing mental health issues or personal stories with nonprofessionals.
“We need to see their intentions first or in what way they might help others because good intentions used in the wrong way might not be effective or even harmful,” said Olphi.
Aside from providing consultation, Alpas also organizes monthly activities that allow people to meet each other and discuss mental health topics with professionals, such as meetups and support groups.
People of all ages come to Alpas’ meetups or join their support groups.
One of them is Bella, a high school graduate who is interested in psychology and is seeking a supportive environment through a mental health community.
“This is the second time I’ve joined their meetup,” she said.
“Alpas is one of the communities that explain psychology and mental health issues in an educative way so I can learn more about them. I have also met friends along the way who affect me in a positive way and help me become a better person.”
Similar to Bella, university student Ansal finds the topics discussed at Alpas meetups interesting. “I have gained a lot of insight, especially on things I should do should a friend or family member ever suffer a mental illness.”
The writer is an intern at The Jakarta Post.
