Experiences of depression in Yogyakarta, Indonesia

ABSTRACT

People from different cultural settings may differ in their presentation with depression. Exploration of experiences was assessed through interviews with 20 Javanese adults aged from 18 to 55 years in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, who had mild to moderate depression. Five themes emerged from the interviews as characteristic of Javanese experiences of depression: internalised and externalised emotions, loss of interest in social and religious activities, disturbance in cognition, the presence of physical symptoms, and suicidal ideation. Javanese respondents used particular terms to explain their depression. Attending to how people’s expression and experiences of their depression might enhance the capacity of clinicians to understand cultural variation, in order to respond appropriately to their clients.

KEYWORDS:

• Culture
• depression
• Javanese people
• primary health care

Acknowledgements

The research reported in this article was undertaken in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the PhD programme for Herlina Siwi Widiana, validated by Monash University.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Herlina Siwi Widiana http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8702-2445

Lenore Manderson http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7883-1790

Katrina Simpson http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5705-2237

Additional information

Funding

The first author wishes to acknowledge The Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education (Lembaga Pengelola Dana Pendidikan/LPDP) for providing a scholarship to pursue PhD degree in School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Australia.