The Church’s SOS: – Sounds the alarm about the elderly:

In the last year alone, the Church’s SOS states that they have seen a marked increase in the number of elderly people calling them.

Several of them state that they want to take their own lives.

– In the last year, we have had an increase of up to 20 per cent of elderly people between 70 and 90 years of age. There is a group that talks about suicidal thoughts, but most of the conversations are largely characterized by loneliness, says general secretary of Church SOS, Lasse Heimdal, to Dagbladet.

– It is frighteningly serious. These are people who should enjoy the last days of their lives, but who are rather considering an end to life, he adds.

– Very painful

In recent weeks, the debate surrounding care for the elderly has raged after NRK recently revealed the conditions of some elderly people in Norway in the “Brennpunkt” documentary “Care behind closed doors”.

A number of other media have also told about people in need of care who cannot find a place in a nursing home. And about how relatives experience the strain.

Heimdal believes that a gloomy picture emerges of how many among the older population have no one to talk to.

– They say that the days are not filled with anything meaningful, that they are waiting for home care, or that they are waiting for the night to come. Several people also call in at night because they need someone to talk to before falling asleep, he says and adds:

– They put words to is deep loneliness. They call to say they are going to spread a slice of bread and go down to the postbox. They have no one to have their everyday conversations with. It is very painful.

Pronounced dead – gasping for air

Lonely after the pandemic

Heimdal states that already in the autumn they notified the alarming number of elderly people who called them with suicidal thoughts.

– We must notify when tens of thousands of older people struggle with dark thoughts and are neither physically nor psychologically able to stand up for their needs and rights. Then it is our joint responsibility to ensure that their human dignity is ensured, he says.

Rejects Oslo crisis

He himself believes that the reason why more elderly people are now reacting may be that it may have a connection with the fact that more people felt lonely and depressed when Norway eased the restrictions after the corona pandemic.

– It can be easier to be lonely in a choir. If you know that everyone else is also lonely, you rely on that. When the country opened up and “everyone” was out doing things, there were more people who noticed the loneliness. In addition, health is weakened both physically and mentally when you are not allowed to move and move for a long time.