– I will be very happy I am equipped with a temperament that does not tolerate injustice. But I think a lot of others would have reacted completely differently, and felt completely alone. Then Erlend Elias said when he visited Helgemorgen on Saturday in P2 and NRK1. He thinks it is almost as if you have to physically injure yourself to get emergency help. Acute psychiatry does not work in practice, he believes. – I’m calling for an arrangement where someone can come to your home. Talk to you. Especially after the corona. Having a low-threshold offer, he says. Throwing ball 2018 was a tough year for him. – I was completely down and very ill. I felt I couldn’t take it anymore, and I was scared. I called the district psychiatric center, DPS, and was told that I had to call the emergency psychiatrist at the emergency room. Then I called the emergency room and was told that I had to call DPS. I was thrown like a ball back and forth. Erlend Elias thinks many who were in his situation would give up. He himself became furious. – I felt that I live in Norway, and here you should get help. But then I did not get it, he says. Erlend Elias says this led to the feeling of not being able to cope anymore, disappearing. – I got a force in me and sat down to write a letter to the county doctor. My mind saved me, and despair. Because I am concerned that we should get help, he says. Professor and psychologist Willy Tore Mørch believes that Erlend Elias’ reaction when he did not receive help led him to take control of the situation. Photo: Eirik Hind Sveen / news Escape or attack – When you get anxiety and get frustrated, you can react with either escape or attack. This is what Professor Emeritus at UiT, Norway’s Arctic University, Willy Tore Mørch says. He believes the way Erlend Elias reacted led him to take control of the situation. – If you choose to attack, you do something and affect the environment. If you choose to flee, you leave control to the surroundings, and then you can really go into a negative spiral. Want a broader commitment Elias has a lecture this weekend in Kirkens SOS in Tromsø. He describes volunteering as fantastic and beautiful, but also as scary. He thinks it is frightening that there are people with other jobs and lives, who have to work hard for others who are struggling to have a place to call. – Why does the state not have emergency telephones that can receive those who need someone to talk to? Those who need someone at night. During the day. In the morning. In the evening. Who sits alone and needs someone to talk to – now, says Erlend Elias. Willy Tore Mørch believes that such helpphones must not be professionalized so that there are psychologists at the other end when someone calls. – There must be ordinary people who are interested. That’s fine. It is the conversation that is important. Therapy is another setting. The most important thing for such phones is that ordinary people show empathy and interest. Erlend Elias believes that the emergency services for people who are suffering mentally must be improved. He thanks his own temperament for choosing to fight instead of giving up. Photo: Odd Arne Olderbakk / news Low threshold – here and now The solution, Erlend Elias believes, is more money into psychiatry. This applies to both promoting and making visible organizations, helpphones but also a much broader government investment in mental health. – The offers must both be expanded and changed. There must be a low threshold for you to get help here and now. If someone comes to your home, you quickly see things more clearly, and you can be followed up before you enter the bureaucracy, says Erlend Elias. Cecilie Myrseth (Labor Party) is the first deputy chair of the health and care committee in the Storting. Photo: Marius Fiskum Cecilie Myrseth (Labor Party) is the first deputy chair of the health and care committee in the Storting. She says she recognizes all the challenges that are highlighted here. – I also recognize Erlend Elias who stands out and shares his story. My message back is that we have this with us. We work to get a good and satisfactory offer, regardless of where you live in the country. Myrseth says that the Office of the Auditor General has also pointed out that mental health care must be improved in this country. – Getting help for mental illness must be as natural as getting help for somatic health, says Myrseth.
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– The mind saved me – news Troms and Finnmark
