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Psychiatry and Mental Health Care in Indonesia from Colonial to Modern Times

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Mental Health in Asia and the Pacific

Part of the book series: International and Cultural Psychology ((ICUP))

Abstract

During the first part of the twentieth century, the colonial administration of the Dutch East Indies developed an extensive mental healthcare system consisting of four large mental hospitals and about a dozen psychiatric clinics located in the major urban centres. The colony ultimately had the highest number of beds per capita in psychiatric institutions in Southeast Asia. After Indonesia gained independence, the psychiatric infrastructure built by the Dutch remained in place and formed the basis for the Indonesian mental healthcare system. Unfortunately, only a relatively small part of the already modest health budget is dedicated to mental health; existing facilities are inadequate to meet demand.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Unit for History and Philosophy of Science, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia

    Hans Pols

  2. Department of Psychiatry, University of Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia

    Sasanto Wibisono

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  1. Hans Pols
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  2. Sasanto Wibisono
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Correspondence to Hans Pols .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Melbourne School of Population Health, The University of Melbourne Centre for International Mental Health, Parkville, Australia

    Harry Minas

  2. The Menzies Centre for Health Policy, The Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia

    Milton Lewis

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Pols, H., Wibisono, S. (2017). Psychiatry and Mental Health Care in Indonesia from Colonial to Modern Times. In: Minas, H., Lewis, M. (eds) Mental Health in Asia and the Pacific. International and Cultural Psychology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-7999-5_14

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