Category: Mental Health Project

Chronic mental disorders’ treatments in Bali tend to use the typical hospital-based, mental health institution approach. These institutions are psychiatry wards in general hospitals or, in rural areas, sections of  community healthcare centres collaborating with the general hospitals.  The absence of such interventional providence has in part contributed to a number of untreated outpatients were abandoned, kept under restrains, chained or in makeshift cages by their families.

“I am in tears seeing this reality happened in the island that most people known as paradise, where money is not a problem in the tourism point of view”, said Karim Maatem as another French freelance journalist that willing to uncover the humiliating reality for Bali’s government that unwilling to make the change for their people. As he joined Professor Luh Ketut Suryani and her remarkable community mental health team walking to a deep inside of a dusty village with hardly ever running water in the area had made him more understand of the discrimination and human right violation for the Balinese people.

The team had found a 52 years male that had been chained for 7 years in the very remote area where no health provider willing to walk in. “I am thrill with the courage of Professor Suryani to finding all the people in chained that had been hidden for many years and had been abandon by their own government”, add Karim as he agree to make her a hero in the name of humanity. “As a professor she is not just sitting at her office waiting for report from somebody else or just providing service at her comfort office but she willing to step out from her normal life to deliver her compassion and love for all the fortunate Balinese people that she can find”, said Dr Cokorda Bagus Jaya Lesmana as he help to documented the remarkable works of Professor Suryani in the community. A community mental health model has been showed and developed in the peaceful island Bali  that offers a fair and effective service to the population

It is with broken hearts that we announce the passing of Dr Ann K. Entus, PhD on Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2012, at her homeland Vancouver, Canada. The sorrow of the faithful is not that of permanent loss, but the tender sense of sadness that comes in saying good-bye for now to someone we love. May today’s sorrow give way to the peace and comfort of God’s love.

Ann was one of our international member that had been actively helping us in developing NLP program for psychiatric residence in Department of Psychiatry, Udayana University, Bali. Ann had been a sister to our founder/director, Professor Luh Ketut Suryani. She had been working side by side with Professor Suryani in many of her activities. Her latest collaboration with Suryani was developing NLP with combining Suryani’s meditation technique for her students that came to Bali in a search of spirit understanding.

Ann will always be remembered for her laughter and love of life. Ann, may you see God’s light on the path ahead, when the road you walk is dark. May you always hear, Even in your hour of sorrow, The gentle singing of the lark. When times  are hard may hardness. Never turn your heart to stone, May you always remember when the shadows fall—You do not walk alone. You will be sadly missed by all.

Health care system can be defined as comprising all the organizations, institutions and resources that are directed to producing health action. Improving health means to improve people’s physical, social and mental well being. Unfortunately this condition is far from being happening in Bali, the island with rain of dollars and many expatriates try to dig their fortune and use for their own good.

“If disease is an expression of individual life under unfavoralbe condition, then what happening here in Bali is indicative of mass ignorance from government and society in creating better mental health situation”, said Professor Suzanne Wells from Edison State Collage, Florida, USA during her visit to community with Professor Luh Ketut Suryani as the founder and director of Suryani Institute. As Professor Wells travels more than 36 hours from convinient country, she is not in Kansas anymore when seeing the reality of the island of Gods.

 

 

“The goodness of a health care system is measured by the output indicators of the various fields of action or all health action taken together, but not by seperating someone health from their physical and mental status” add Professor Wells full with despair. When most tourist that come to Bali try to get benefit from their own good, none of them willing to step in helping the unfortunate people with mental disorders and left untreated in community.  

LCI as one of French television channel works together with indoXPLORE an Indonesian television production company that provides full-scale production support to international broadcasters, documentary filmmakers and corporate clients in Indonesia and beyond tried to expose the mental health situation in the island of God. As the mental health situation in Bali is still unchange, the media pressure try to bring the difference.

“We feel the government act inhumane in this mental health situation by not providing any information and services to their people”, said Anne Delaistre after seeing the reality of inhumane condition of mental ill people in Bali. They were left without any treatment as the Bali’s government focus only on mental institution way of treatment. People that can not come to any health center never consider as patients and just abandon in community without any care.

 

 

 

“Let our visual makes the difference and spread the news to other if your government trying to play blind and deaf”, add Alex Ginting during his time capturing the darkside of Bali’s glamour tourism. The island has the most five stars hotel in the nation of Indonesia, but none of the hotel willing to set aside their profit for the people with mental disorder that left untreated in the community. “It’s a shame but that’s the reality that we face day to day”, said Professor Luh Ketut Suryani with her bitterness inside.