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A voice for the voiceless
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Studies show that as many as 90,000 Norwegian children have parents who are battling with mental illnesses. The problem for many children is that it is difficult for them to talk about their parents' problems.
They often feel that their problems are not taken seriously, and that they are pushed from pillar to post in the system, both in the specialist health service and in the municipal health service.
Young people battle with shame, guilt and too much responsibility. And often they have no one to talk to about their situation.
Opening the door to more helpStaff at the Sørlandet Hospital in southern Norway are working to help these children by offering an anonymous response service on the Internet, where children can send their questions and share their thoughts. Within a week, they receive a reply both from professionals and from people who themselves have experience related to mental illness. Morild's response service has now been running for two years. The results are encouraging. "Many of these children would never have said anything about their problems, if they had not been able to say it anonymously to us on the Internet," says Ellen Walnum in the response service. She herself grew up with a mother who was mentally ill, and is sure that this would have been a valuable service for her if it had existed when she grew up. |
Do not have to reveal their identitiesJorunn Gjedrem works in the child welfare service in the municipality of Kristiansand municipality. She says that replying to the questions can be demanding."Because the service is anonymous, we do not know who is sending questions. We have only the text to use as the background for our response. Sometimes, only one message arrives, and then we do not hear any more from the sender," she says. "On the other hand, many send in several messages, and in any case these young people get an open, anonymous place on the Net where they can express the issues they are wondering about, without having to reveal their situation face to face with a school nurse or psychologist." On the Web site, adolescents aged between 15 and 18 can also register to join a closed chat room. There, they have the opportunity for contact with other young people who are battling with the psychological problems of their parents, and can give each other tips and advice for their everyday lives. The chat room has been established and is run by the Norwegian Centre for Telemedicine (NST) in Tromsø. It forms part of the PhD project of Marianne Trondsen. Contact person at the NST PhD research fellow Marianne Trondsen, telephone +47 415 10 792 |
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