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COVID-19: Bandung psychiatrists offer online mental health assistance through Ruang Empati
Ruang Empati provides online consultation sessions as well as art psychotherapy to help patients express their emotions as well as reduce stress and anxiety amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
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Ruang Empati provides online consultation sessions as well as art psychotherapy to help patients express their emotions as well as reduce stress and anxiety amid the COVID-19 outbreak. (Shutterstock/Lizardflms)
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sychiatrists and volunteers in Bandung, West Java, have initiated an online mental health assistance program called Ruang Empati (Empathy Room) to ensure people with mental health problems can access necessary help during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Elvine Gunawan, a psychiatrist working at the Melinda 2 Hospital in the city, has been working with fellow psychiatrists and volunteers to provide online consultation sessions via the Instagram account @ketik.hasaka and the website ruangempati.com.
They are currently serving 48 patients.
“Around three or four of them have been mentally affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. Some can still be helped through relaxation sessions, but two others needed to be referred to psychiatrists,” Elvine said, adding the online service did not replace face-to-face consultation sessions in the hospital.
She added that the service had also been used by people from regions outside Bandung, such as Jakarta, Jambi and North Sumatra’s Medan.
Ruang Empati spokesperson Teddy Hidayat said the program was a joint effort from several medical and academic institutions in the province, including the West Java administrations’ mental health prevention team, Melinda 2 Hospital, Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) and Padjadjaran University.
Teddy went on to say the program aimed to reduce anxiety and panic attack caused by the economic difficulties and stay-at-home requirements triggered by the COVID-19 outbreak.
“Anxiety and stress can lower a person’s immunity level. Handling those stresses can help someone boost their immune system,” said Teddy, who is also a scholar from Padjadjaran University Medical School.
Apart from consultation sessions, Ruang Empati also provided art psychotherapy sessions to help patients express their emotions and reduce their anxiety and sadness, said ITB School of Art and Design researcher Ira Adriati.
Those who wish to access the online psychiatrist services provided by Ruang Empati can send a chat message through WhatsApp at 0818-272-255 or send a message to @ketik.hasaka on Instagram. Psychiatrists and volunteers will respond to messages sent to those accounts from 8 a.m. to 12 a.m. (nal)
