The number of calls to the Church’s SOS telephone about suicide has doubled since March. Now they hope that the extra support they received earlier this year will be continued.
“We noticed that when the corona pandemic hit, very many who had problems before, found it even more difficult to deal with them. The conversations have become longer and the content darker. The number of conversations about suicide has doubled since March”, says deputy leader Karl Dag Bærug in the Church’s SOS Bjørgvin to the newspaper Dagen.
They are still only able to answer around 60 percent of those who make contact.
After Ari Behn’s suicide last Christmas, the government allocated an extra five million kroner to both Kirkens SOS ‘and Mental Health’s emergency telephones.
The Church’s SOS now hopes that the support, which came on top of the 20 million they received through the ordinary state budget, will be continued in next year’s budget, which will be presented on 7th October.
Bærug says that the five extra millions are important.
“This means that we can spend less time and resources on advertising and fundraising, and more time on helping people who need it.”
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
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