Bangunlah Jiwanya, Kokohlah Bangsanya: Towards Indonesia Better Health Outcome

Abstraksi

As an integral part of health, mental health (MH) is a predictor of better health result. However, data from WHO (2011) revealed that the prevalence of MH disorders in Indonesia accounted for ten percent of the global burden disease. Despite government effort to integrate MH service to primary care to prevent MH problems from being increased, the implementations of MH programs are challenging due to a poorly educated community. Due to limited research on this issue, therefore the aim of this paper is to explore Indonesian mental health literacy (MHL) and MH help-seeking behavior. Methods: Data were collected from 277 participants (84 male and 139 female) across Indonesia with age range from 18- 54. Measures using The Mental Health Literacy (Jung, Sternberg, Davis, 2016) and Inventory of Attitudes Toward Seeking Mental Health Service (Hyland et. al. 2015). The results of the study indicate that ninety-two percent of participants understand that mental health is as important as physical health and eighty percent of them choose to consult with family members and friends instead of seeking professional help. Forty percent of participants report that no MH service around their areas and more than half of participants does not have adequate MHL. There are no differences on MH help-seeking attitude between people who have high and low MHL. The implication of these results and strategies to overcome problems are discussed in relation to increasing the effectiveness of MH service.