SOS line with 3,000 calls during Christmas

Photo: Gorm Kallestad / NTB scanpix

The Church’s SOS line has had over 3,000 conversations during Christmas

Christmas presents challenges for many and the need to talk to someone is great. The Church’s SOS line has received over 3,000 calls so far during Christmas.

 

“The vast majority of people who make contact tell of great loneliness and psychological problems,” Secretary-General Leif Jarle Theis in Church SOS states.

He says that the organization has also seen an increase in conversations about relational challenges now in the holiday season, but believes this is not so strange as it is expected that the family will gather.

According to Theis, it can cause problems for those who have a family to relate to and feel that, that it is challenging, but also for those who do not have a family and know the loneliness.

The Church’s SOS telephone service is still the largest, with a total of 2,697 calls from 22 to 27 December. However, the pressure on the written services has been greater than before.

The Church SOS answers almost 200,000 inquiries each year and has long been Norway’s by far the largest 24-hour crisis service on the telephone and the internet. The service is anonymous and staffed by volunteers.



This article is written by our contributor, Ella Worehead, to be shared with the esteemed readers of Norway Today. Ella is a journalist, and publisher, covering European Union and Schengen visa news

© Ella Worehead / #Norway Today