Jakarta. Mental health problems among Indonesian teenagers are rising sharply, with new data showing millions of cases recorded in recent years. The state health insurer BPJS Kesehatan reported that between 2020 and 2024, spending on mental health treatment reached Rp 6.77 trillion ($411.45 million), covering 18.9 million cases.

Psychologist Tara de Thouars said about 30 percent of Indonesian teenagers experience mental health problems, a figure that has been growing by 20 to 30 percent annually. “These pressures impact emotions, thoughts, and behaviors, and can disrupt daily functioning,” she said at a media workshop on Tuesday in Surakarta.

Findings from the 2022 Indonesia National Adolescent Mental Health Survey (I-NAMHS) show that one in three teenagers, or 15.5 million youths, reported experiencing at least one mental health problem in the previous 12 months. About 5.5 percent, or 2.45 million, had a diagnosable mental disorder, with anxiety disorders the most common.

Despite the alarming figures, access to mental health services remains very low. Only 2.6 percent of adolescents with mental health problems have sought counseling or emotional support services. Overall, just one in fifty adolescents (2.0 percent) accessed such services in the same period, and two-thirds of them (66.5 percent) used the services only once.

Tara cited several drivers behind the surge in cases, including social media pressures and the culture of fear of missing out (FOMO), economic strain, workplace competition, the “sandwich generation” burden of supporting both children and parents, and academic stress.

Yet stigma remains a major barrier to treatment. “People with mental disorders are often labeled as weak, ungrateful, or even seen as a disgrace. This makes them reluctant to seek help,” Tara said. She also criticized the trend of treating mental health struggles as fashionable. “What should be normalized is seeking professional help, not romanticizing the disorders,” she added.

Ali Ghufron Mukti, President Director of BPJS Kesehatan, said mental health care is a basic right that must be guaranteed by the state. He said that the insurer has been expanding access to treatment and rehabilitation.

“In 2024 alone, there were 2.97 million referrals for mental health cases from primary health centers to hospitals,” he said. BPJS data show schizophrenia accounts for 7.5 million cases in the past five years, costing Rp 3.5 trillion.

The provinces with the highest reported cases are Central Java with 3.5 million, followed by West Java, East Java, Jakarta, and North Sumatra.

Tara stressed that prevention and awareness must be prioritized. “Before we hope for things to get better, start by maintaining mental health, because without it, nothing else matters,” she said.