We try to stay close to home with the advocacy of the Mental Health Association of Portland, and so this site carefully monitors the Oregon and Southwest Washington media for stories about mental illness, collect them in one permanent archive, and present them for your use.

But occasionally we need to stretch and reach out of our provincial shell.

Al Jazzera News’ 101 East webcast / cablecast Bali Breakdown, exposing a hidden and dark side to the Indonesian island – Bali’s mentally ill.

Most of them have never received proper treatment. Instead, their families often keep them chained up or in makeshift cages.

The situation is made worse by the island’s severe lack of facilities. There is only one psychiatric hospital on the island, with just 30 beds reserved for the poor.

But one woman works hard to improve the lives of Bali’s mentally ill. Dr Luh Ketut Suryani is a Balinese psychiatrist and the director and founder of the Suryani Institute for Mental Health in Denpasar.

She estimates that over 7,000 people in Bali suffer from serious chronic mental illnesses. But according to the official government position, mental illness is almost non-existent in Bali.

Part One

Part Two