We conveyed that ODGJs must be treated and taken to a health facility.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Health Ministry is striving to free persons with mental disorders (ODGJs) from shackling by involving professional organizations and applying educational approaches to raise awareness among families and surrounding communities, an official said here on Wednesday.

"The number of shackling (cases) is quite high. In 2020, it was quite low because the focus was on COVID-19, as the surveillance data collection by local health centers was focused on COVID-19," director of mental health at the ministry, Vensya Sitohang, informed at a press conference on the 2022 World Mental Health Day.

Based on the ministry's data, as of the second quarter of 2022, at least 4,304 ODGJs in Indonesia have experienced being shackled, she highlighted.

The number of shackled ODGJs reached 4,989 in 2019, 6,452 in 2020, and 2,332 in 2021.

Therefore, she said the ministry will keep educating families and communities to take ODGJs to a health facility rather than shackle them.

"We conveyed that ODGJs must be treated and taken to a health facility. The shackling problem is actually a social problem, so it must be taught by local health center officers, and RT/RW (hamlets/neighborhood units) must understand that ODGJs should be taken to the hospital," Sitohang added.

At present, the number of ODGJs in Indonesia stands at around 500 thousand, with the highest figures reported from Central Sulawesi and East Nusa Tenggara.

However, even after ODGJs are successfully released from shackling, they are re-shackled after undergoing treatment, Sitohang said.

"The reason is: after their condition improves because of regularly taking drugs and therapy, (they/the family) think it is no longer necessary to take them. ODGJs also often experience re-shackling," she added.

Hence, she emphasized that treatment and therapy for ODGJs must be continual.

"If they stop taking the medicine, they will be shackled again because the patient will fall into depression again," she said. (

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Translator: Andi F, Kenzu T
Editor: Suharto
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