Haliza Rahma Alifia

18311114
Bridging Program
The Topic Of Essay: Depression: In Indonesian Perspective And Solution

“My dark days made me strong. Or maybe I already was strong, and they made me prove
it,” Lord (2016). Depression (major depressive disorder) is a common and serious medical
illness that negatively affect how you feel, the way you think and how you act. Fortunately, it
is also treatable. Depression causes feelings of sadness and/or a loss of interest in activities
once enjoyed. It can lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems and can decrease a
person’s ability to function at work and at home (Parekh, 2017). From the statement, it can be
concluded that depression cannot be considered trivial. However, many people think that
depression is not serious illness.
In Indonesia, mental health conditions are still one of the issues that have been ruled out.
Moreover, depression can cause mortality. Whereas, the number of people with mental
disorders continues to increase in every year. Data from Basic Health Research (Riskesdas) in
2013 showed the prevalence of mental emotional disorders with symptomps of depression
and anxiety at 15 years old age reaching 14 million people. This figure is equivalent to 6
percent of Indonesia’s population. Meanwhile, the prevalence of severe mental disorders such
as schizophrenia reaches 400.000. From these data, it should have been concluded that the
mental health issues of Indonesians are quite high. But why do people in Indonesia considered
mental illness is trivial?
According to Professor of Psychology from the Illinois Institute of Technology, Patrick
Corrigan, PsyD, stigma of mental disorders gets deteriorate everyday. This makes people with
mental disorders increasingly lonely, isolated, and difficult to get right treatment. However, in
Indonesia, mental disorders considered trivial. By reason of, lack of public knowledge about
mental disorders or depression and people with mental disorders are afraid of getting bad
stigma from public.
Many people have not realized how necessary to talk about mental health. Not about
other people, but also ourselves. By reason of some people assume that talk about mental
health is something shameful. Therefore, people should open minded about necessary of
mental health. Depression can happen to anyone regardless age, race, gender, and also social
status. There are some things can do when feeling depressed. First, looking for people we can
trust. Based on research, sharing stories with people who close to us can decrease stress levels.
Second, reduce the usage of social media. Based on research from Brown University, social
media is proven to increase stress levels and encourage depression. Third, do activities that
can divert attention. And the last is looking help from professional staff or psychologist.
Aside from helping ourselves, we should help another people. Here are some things can do
for them; be a good listener, do not judge them, do not bullying them, and persuade them to
get help from professional staff or psychologist.
In the whole, depression or mental disorders is a serious issues. Depression cannot
considered trivial. As a great human being, we should pay attention to our environment, our
friend, our family, and ourselves.
Reference:

Jensen, K. (2018). (Don’t) Call Me Crazy: 33 Voice Start the Conversation About
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Juniman, P.T. (2018). 15,8 Persen Keluarga Hidup Dengan Penderita Gangguan
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Lord, E. (2016). When We Collided. USA: Bloomsbury USA Childrens.

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https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/depression/what-is-depression

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