Indonesia is a multicultural and geographically dispersed country with diverse perspectives towards mental health. Mental health in Indonesia faces similar problems as in other countries, such as low public awareness, low prioritisation in the country's health agenda, as well as stigma and discrimination from laypeople and health-care practitioners. Unlike other medical disciplines, psychiatry is not well accepted, even among health-care providers. Moreover, the stigma surrounding psychiatry can reduce the quality of services for patients, creating a negative feedback loop that perpetuates the negative view towards mental health care. Patients with psychiatric problems tend to be deprioritised in non-psychiatric clinical settings as they are perceived as having non-urgent problems, even when they have suicidal thoughts. On the other hand—and just as problematic—many patients can be hastily referred to a psychiatric unit when presenting with symptoms such as agitation, even if it might have a non-psychiatric cause. The general lack of knowledge and understanding of mental illness often means patients are not receiving the appropriate level of care.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(21)00210-8

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