Arendal Week 2022: Young people’s mental health – how can we prevent all suicide?

15.08.22 | Event
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Photographer
Martin Zachrisson/norden.org
Too many young people in the Nordic Region are struggling with mental challenges. This affects wellbeing, can lead to isolation, and ultimately lead some to take their own lives. Why can it go so wrong and what can we do about it?

Information

Dates
15.08.2022
Time
04:00 PM - 05:00 PM
Location

Nordens Telt
Arendalsuka
Norway

Type
Debate meeting

LIVE from 16:00 on 15 August:

Mental health had been a growing problem for several years even before COVID-19. The pandemic has only reinforced this unfortunate trend, which affects young people in particular and who are already having a difficult time.

A study by the FHI shows an increase in consultations in primary health services related to anxiety and depression, ADHD, and sleep disorders during the autumn of 2020 and spring of 2021. 

Mental health among vulnerable children and young people was a priority area for the Nordic Welfare Committee even before COVID-19. The focus of the committee is on the Nordic countries’ high suicide rates, where an average of ten people take their own lives every day. The concern is that more children and young people have been driven to suicide due to loneliness and lack of mental wellbeing.

In light of this, a zero vision for suicide has been adopted. But how are we going to achieve it? And what can we do about it now? 

Participants: 

  • Tone Wilhelmsen Trøen, Head of the Health and Care Committee, Høyre 
  • Anne Reneflot, Department Director for Mental Health and Suicide, FHI 
  • Bernt G. Apeland, Secretary General, Norwegian Red Cross 
  • Adrian Pracon, Political Adviser, Mental Health
  • Kaja Katinka Østereng, student, UiO

 

Moderator: André H. Jamholt, Nordic Council of Ministers 

Organiser: Nordic Council of Ministers