INDONESIA is a
nation in severe mental distress, a Jakarta-based neuro-psychiatrist
says.
In a controversial paper to be delivered to a Brisbane conference
tomorrow, Suharko Kasran, of the Trisakti University, argues
Indonesia is exhibiting symptoms not unlike an individual in
mental distress - restlessness, anxiety, fear and phobia,
paranoia, irritability, aggression and psychosis.
He said the nation of 200 million people was riddled with
psychotic behaviours - savagery, vengeance, hatred and
vindictiveness.
"In some areas, beheading and cannibalism are still
implemented although it is prohibited by law," Dr Kasran says
in a research paper.
"Terrorism ... killings, house burning, school building
burning, bombings, burning of vehicles, buses, motorcycles have
become ... daily news in the special province of Aceh and other
places like Poso.
"It is becoming more and more common to have people taking
the law into their own hands by lynching and burning suspects to
death even without specific reasons."
Dr Kasran will present his findings to the Royal Australian and
New Zealand College of Psychiatrists' congress in Brisbane
tomorrow.
He said Indonesian youth were exhibiting a decreasing sense of
responsibility with drug abuse on the rise and student brawls
common.
Ethnic conflicts were also frequent.
Dr Kasran said the Indonesian Government was at least partly to
blame for failing to embrace the importance of national character
building.
He said the nation had unclear values, ethics and moral
development.
"A state of paranoia and negative personal accusations
seem to dominate the political arena even when the country is in
dire crisis," Dr Kasran said.
He has recommended a behavioural modification program
implemented through teachers to alleviate the situation.
"Teachers are the agents of change that are most accepted
by each ethnic group living in Indonesia, marked by plurality of
religions and social economic variations," Dr Kasran says in
his paper.
He also called on the International Monetary Fund to switch its
focus from a country's physical and economic development to
improving a nation's mental health.
