COVID-19: Threat and Fear in Indonesia

The purpose of this article is to provide a brief report on how the Indonesian population has experienced the COVID-19 pandemic in the first 2 months since the establishment of COVID-19 Rapid Response Task Force on March 13. The discussion will focus on the psychological trauma that the population has experienced due to the lack of preparedness, the poorly equipped health care system, and lockdown policies in dealing with the spread of the coronavirus. Four different types of psychological trauma were increasingly observed, based on digital communication with people affected and reports from the news and social media. These 4 types of psychological trauma were social withdrawal, hysteria, individual violence, and collective violence. On the basis of the described psychological consequences of the pandemic, it can be assumed that both the individual and collective reactions must be considered to reduce harm of the coronavirus pandemic.