PALANGKARAYA MENTAL CLINIC TREATS FIVE ELECTION-DEFEAT CASES

Palangkaraya, April 15 (ANTARA) - A mental health clinic here has been treating five people -- two of them legislative candidates --for mental disorders caused by defeat in the April 9 polls.

Three of the patients are supporters of certain political parties, head of the Kalawa Atei Community Mental Health Clinic (BEJM) of Palangka Raya, Mineini Marhaeni Rubay, said here Tuesday.
"Failure in the elections can affect not only the person who sought to be elected but also his or her supporters or loved ones such as wife or husband, children, relatives and others who had been giving fanatical support," Rubay said.
She said one of the two legislative candidates was admitted to the clinic on April 10 in a "deranged" mental state and had to be given emergency treatment before being sent to the Joint Adulam Ministry Foundation, a mental asylum in Palangkaraya.
Following last Thursday's polls, the legislative candidate in question was reported suddenly to behave strangely such as refusing to take baths and to eat, and laughing continuously while looking at the electoral vote tallies, Rubay said without mentioning the candidate's name and political party.
Two of the other patients had also shown the same unusual behavior and had to remain at the clinic for intensive treatment while in the remaining two cases, the sufferers only underwent mental health counseling.
Rubay said the clinic had received reports there were two other election-related mental patients in Central Kalimantan who had not been brought to the clinic. One of them was a resident of Kapuas and the other one a resident of Palangka Raya who was being treated at home.
"For patients who need intensive treatment, we have a medical staff consisting of four general practitioners, one psychiatrist, two psychologists and a number of paramedics," Rubay said.