Bipolar Care Indonesia

BIPOLARBIPOLAR CARECARE INDONESIAINDONESIA

an interview with Igi Oktamiasih, Founder of Bipolar Care Indonesia

The foundation Bipolar Care Indonesia was started on the 27th of May 2013 by 5 founders, two of whom are still active in the foundation today. We interviewed one of them, Ms. Igi Oktamiasih, to give us some insights on the topic of mental health.

Bipolar Care Indonesia is a foundation set up to provide a community and support group for people with bipolar disorder. They wanted to support them, and give them a platform to share their stories and realize that they are not facing this alone.

At the time when they were first creating the foundation, there were no other communities like it that the owners were familiar with. In 2019, Bipolar Care Indonesia was legally changed from an organization into a foundation.

Now, how does one deal with their mental health? Ms. Igi shares with us that she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder around the same time they began the foundation. At that time she thought “ what’s next?” and “ what steps do I have to take?” . She decided to make a support system for herself, along with therapies to prevent relapses, in order to help herself and her mental health progress in a better way.

Ms Igi says that improving your mental wellbeing is also very important, and a way to do that is self-love. Self-love is rather abstract; it is not only about treating yourself, but also about caring for your thoughts and feelings. Self-love is also important because if you don't value yourself, then you depend on others to value you.

You begin to think of yourself as someone that needs to please everyone by fulfilling their expectations in order to be accepted. Practicing mindfulness is also a type of self-love. It is not only just by sitting and meditating, but it is also about focusing on what you do and your thoughts.

Self-love is not always being a positive thinker all the time. You have emotions, so you should accept yourself and forgive yourself. Meet your needs, such as proper sleep, proper food, proper exercise, and removing toxic people from your life. It is advised that If you think that you have a mental health issue, or are currently struggling with your mental health, to please reach out for help from someone you trust.

Now that we know how to deal with our mental health, how do we support others that are currently struggling with theirs? Well, we become good listeners. Usually people who are struggling with mental health want to be heard and share their issues with another person, not to simply be advised.

People tend to advise readily, but not listen very well. You shouldn't always question why they are doing certain things. Don't interpret what you think is going on with that person and their life. If you don't have proper education about mental health it is better to stay quiet, and just give them space for themselves.