26 people have taken their lives in Norwegian prisons since January 2021. – I chose this room because here you get both sun and you see the moon, says “Trond”. He points around the small cell in Ringerike prison. Self-painted pictures fill the walls. A small easel, two guitars, a desk and a bed is all he has room for. – I have killed many evening hours by sitting and playing the guitar or painting. The first thing you should really think about when you are hired is to find something constructive, says Trond. Trond is not his real name. At the man’s request, news has agreed that he is anonymous. news knows his identity. Trond is keen to do constructive things during his sentence. One of the things he spends a lot of time on is painting. Photo: Hans-Kristian Rangnes / news He himself has tried to take his own life three times. But all the attempts were before he was due to go in for sentencing. He calls it coincidence that it was discovered. – In here, the thought has struck me many times. But I entered the bubble and decided to persevere. Norway stands out Suicide is the leading cause of death among prisoners. Norway stands out in a European context, with almost four times as many suicides per 100,000 inmates as the European average. The same is the case when it comes to self-harm and suicide attempts. – It is very regrettable. It is painful for both relatives and us employees who work with this every day. We do everything we can to prevent that from happening. But it still happens, says head of Ringerike prison, Eirik Bergstedt. Prison warden at Ringerike prison, Eirik Bergstedt. Photo: Hans-Kristian Rangnes / news Wants a change in thinking The prison manager believes the solution lies in more 24-hour places in psychiatry and a change in thinking if the problem is to be overcome. – We cannot live with the fact that we only focus on social protection at the moment the convict is in prison. We must also focus on them returning to society, says Bergstedt. – Seriously mentally ill inmates cannot be rehabilitated. It’s that simple. For more than twenty years, Norway has been criticized by UN supervisory bodies and the Council of Europe’s torture committee for the extensive use of solitary confinement and the situation of mentally ill inmates in prison, writes Amnesty. Locked up for 23 hours Trond has been in Ringerike prison for seven years. He has been convicted of assault and will be a free man shortly. Most people who take their own lives in Norwegian prisons do so while in custody. Trond remembers well what it was like to be in custody. – Bottomless despair is what I remember best about sitting there. – I was locked up 23 hours a day. When you have no one to talk to other than officers, who you know will pass on what you’re talking about, then you end up burying yourself. In the end, you won’t get out of that hole, says Trond. The inmate chose this room because he had a view of the air yard and he could see both the sun and the moon. Photo: Hans-Kristian Rangnes / news Prison crisis announced Earlier this year, prison psychologist Kristoffer Land and prison psychiatrist Janne Gudim Hermansen warned of a dramatic situation in Ringerike prison. They told of a marked increase in inmates who they believe suffer from a serious mental illness. – We have seen that the development we warned about has continued. We see that there is a steady deterioration, and our concerns are just as serious, says Land. Seven inmates have taken their own lives at the prison in the last 15 years, writes Ringerike’s newspaper. Prison psychologist Kristoffer Land and prison psychiatrist Janne Gudim Hermansen outside Ringerike prison. Photo: Hana Mohammed At the latest in April this year, a person sitting in the isolation ward took his own life at the prison. – There is obviously a problem. The seriously mentally ill have an increased risk of suicide. – We try to do our job with the funds we have. But that is not enough. This leads to incidents where a patient tries to take his own life despite the fact that we have tried to admit him several times, says the prison psychologist. Will become neighbors Land and Hermansen believe that the seriously mentally ill do not get the help they need in prison. – They lose their opportunity for recovery. I don’t think they take the perspective that they will go out again and become neighbours, says prison psychiatrist Janne Gudim Hermansen. The Department of Correctional Services is responsible for Norwegian prisons. They take the suicide numbers very seriously. – Our employees work every day to prevent both suicide and self-harm. At the same time, it is important to be aware that the inmates in prisons today struggle with mental illness to a greater extent than in the past, which also affects the numbers, says Atle Syvertsen, senior adviser in the communications staff at the Correctional Service. – The needle’s eye for getting inmates into psychiatry is very narrow, and when the prisons manage to get inmates transferred to the health care system, they are unfortunately often quickly returned. In our opinion, this has to do with the long-standing downsizing of inpatient places in psychiatry, says Syvertsen. That’s why we talk about suicide. Talking about suicide is an ethical dilemma for the media. In most cases, suicide has complex causes. More than half of the victims have mental disorders. At the same time, there are also those who want to take their own lives for other reasons. As, for example, in the story we present here. news is careful in its mention of method and mode. At the same time, the Be careful poster was changed in 2023 and the new point about suicide signals continued sobriety but also more openness. Ebbe Preisler has been an active debater in Denmark. He has spoken about his suicide attempt on a number of occasions. Do you need to talk to someone? Contact your GP or, for example, Mental health on helpline: 116 123. If the situation is urgent, you should always call 113. More people you can trust Inmate Trond points to two things in particular that he believes can reduce the number of suicides. More money for officers so you can have more community and more to do and expansion of the priestly service. – There is a crying need for people to talk to in Norwegian prisons. People you can trust. – The priest is the only person you can talk to who does not have a duty to report or record the conversations. The vow of silence to priests is absolute and therefore everyone uses the priest regardless of whether they are believers or not, says Trond. Do you want to talk to someone? If you need to talk to someone after reading this case, you can contact your GP. There are also several helplines, chat services and support groups where you can share your thoughts and feelings completely anonymously, and get support, advice and guidance. If it is urgent, you should always call 113 first Mental health helpline: 116 123 Mental health also has a chat: mentalhelse.no. Chat service for young people: mentalhelseungdom.no Chat service from Church SOS: soschat.no Church SOS helpline: 22 40 00 40 Cross on the neck from the Red Cross: 800 33 321 Cross on the neck also has chat: korspåhalsen.no Published 15.10.2024, at 12.17 Updated 15.10.2024, at 12.34 p.m
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Suicide is the most common cause of death for inmates in Norwegian prisons – news Buskerud – Local news, TV and radio
