Category: Mental Health Project

The University of Southern California (USC) is one of the world’s leading private research universities. An anchor institution in Los Angeles, a global center for arts, technology and international trade, USC enrolls more international students than any other U.S. university and offers extensive opportunities for internships and study abroad. With a strong tradition of integrating liberal and professional education, USC fosters a vibrant culture of public service and encourages students to cross academic as well as geographic boundaries in their pursuit of knowledge. For those reason, a partnership to Suryani Institute for understanding culture and mental health in Bali is a building model for them to pursuit the knowledge.

“Years ago, I traveled to Bali and studied Balinese perceptions of child abuse and parental methods of discipline.  I have deep respect for the work of Prof Dr Luh Ketut Suryani writings through her books and journal articles along with the commitment that she has for the mental health issues of the Balinese’ said Rafael C. Angulo as the Coordinator of Family and Children Concentration & Public Child Welfare Subconcentration at School of Social Work of the USC during his visit to see the reality of Bali’s hidden mental health with Professor Luh Ketut Suryani as the leading psychiatrist that regularly visit the patients in community.

Continue reading “The University of Southern California is developing a partnership with Suryani Institute for Mental Health”

Global Post an on-line news portal in Boston, has a mission to provide original international reporting rooted in integrity, accuracy, independence and powerful storytelling that informs, entertains and fills the void created by diminished foreign coverage by American media. For that reason Sara Schonhardt from Global Post feels the need to write the story about the impact the institute is having on an issue that deserves a lot of attention. About 300 psychotic people still tied up in chains with some of them in cages hidden in the glamor tourism of the paradise island named Bali. The mentally ill are locked up by their own families and forced to eat, sleep and defecate in the same spot while their illness goes untreated in the Bali’s government ignorance of the problems.

“Encouraging thoughts and words of well meaning people are maybe nice, but remain superficial and empty without concrete action”, said Sara during her visit to the community with Professor Luh Ketut Suryani and Dr Cokorda Bagus Jaya Lesmana as the only psychiatrists that willing to do community mental health work in the community. The visit was follow by Dr Mel Borins, a family physician, Associate Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto and on active staff at St. Joseph’s Health Center.

 

 

Continue reading “Global Post helps bringing some light into the darkness of Bali’s Mental Health”

Community psychiatry as community base treatment is defined by mixed systems of care for patients with severe and persistent mental disorders, which the focus of the initial movement 50 years ago was de-institutionalization, prevention, least restrictive options for care, and transformation of large public hospitals into multi-service regional centers. Unfortunately this situation was not applied to Indonesian and Bali’s mental health system. There are 300 people still left enchained in Bali.

“A while ago I saw the story about your work on Dateline in Australia and was deeply moved by the amazing work you do for the mentally ill in Bali”, said Cameron Herweynen, a Melbourne based international award winning Documentary and Travel photographer during his visit to Professor Luh Ketut Suryani.

 

 

 

Continue reading “Melbourne’s Photographer joined capturing Bali’s chained”

Over 7000 people in Bali suffer from serious chronic mental illnesses, but are not reported (and naturally not treated). For various reasons, financial, social, political, educational, or simply shame, their families have been reluctant to seek help, while the few who did never received any. Therefore, as a last resort, these families may either abandon their mentally ill relatives in the jungle (hoping they will die or just forever disappear) or keep them under restraints, chained or inside makeshift cages.

“We feel Professor Luh Ketut Suryani’s work in community is indispensable and hugely important, we think it helps to improve the human rights of mentally ill patients, which is urgently needed all over the world”, said Laurent Delhomme as the editor and producer at YemaYa production that produced and distributed numerous films on French and international channels during his visit with Professor Suryani to community.

 

Continue reading “YemaYa production response for chained people in Bali”