|
Balans webbsidor underhålls och utvecklas av:
Webmaster
Kajsa-Lena
Svensson
(Bitr. Webmaster)
Ulla
Lundström
(Bitr. Webmaster)
|
|
FÖRENINGEN BALANS, Sweden
(Swedish Depressive and ManicDepressive Association)
Our objectives are:
- to offer togetherness and support to those who are depressed,
bipolar or closely related to somebody who is suffering from these
illnesses.
- to create a forum for exchange of experiences and mediation of
knowledge between patients, relatives, institutions, hospital staff and
medical enterprises.
- to create opinion for better care, more resources and a more
respectful treatment.
- to work for including relatives and other close connections in the
process of healing.
- to increase knowledge and insights about depression, bipolarity
and burnout.
This is Balans
Balans was established in 1997 and has about 600 members (Oct 2007), most of
them in the Stockholm area and about 5.000 a day visit our website. There are also some local networks in the rest of
the country. Our ambition is of course to cover the whole of Sweden.
Balans is quite a small organisation but can sometimes influence in a wider
perspective. For instance Balans has played a key role in creating a larger
advocacy network for similar organisations, a “National helpline”, which is a
phone line serving suffering people from all over the country having various
questions and problems.
Backbone of Balans are the selfhelp groups for different categories of members.
We do take part in education of hospital staff and of course in study groups of
patients.
We work through media contacts, seminars and open meetings.
We cooperate with Nothern Stockholm Psychiatry in a coaching project and a
project called "Patients as consultants in psychiatry".
Balans has produced a book “Balansgång” (Balancing), which we sell to private
persons, hospitals, libraries, etc. The book contains interviews with patients
and relatives and also chapters on medication and on therapy.
As organizer of patients Balans mediates views and opinions to the psychiatry
through what is called “user revisions” and influences politicians and office
bearers in debates and meetings with dialogue.
Activities
Monthly member meetings, often with an existential theme.
Self help groups in Stockholm as well as in some other places.
Phone and e-mail consultancy five days a week.
Newsletter
Four times a year we distribute latest news to members and other subscribers.
Website
Updated continuously, address
www.foreningenbalans.nu
Membership fee
175 SEK (19 Euros) per year (2008). A new member paying his/her fee in
November/December keeps the membership during the following year.
Since October 2005 there is a one-year-project going on in Stockholm.
It is a co-operation between Föreningen Balans and the psychiatric care
in northern Stockholm. The project is called “Patients as consultants in
psychiatric care” and is led by a psychiatric nurse. We are eight
persons with bipolar and psychotic diagnoses who are going to create a
dialog with five closed psychiatric wards during spring and early autumn.
The aim is to tell about our experiences and needs as patients, families
and friends.
Money for this project comes from a Committee created by the State to
better organize psychiatry in Sweden. The intention is to raise the
quality of psychiatric treatment.
An important part of our work is to strengthen the cooperation with user
organisations and to help improve the cooperation between patients,
families/friends and psychiatric care by creating networks where these
categories are involved and active. It is getting more and more common
to write contracts between the persons taking part in such a network.
If you want to know more about this project you are welcome to contact
laila.gentzel@sll.se
Published in GAM-Ezine, January, 2006
edition
Laila
Genzel’s book (Feb 2007)
Laila Gentzel lives in Sweden where she is member of the Balans
Organization, she suffers from Bipolar Disorder. She has chosen to write
about stigma and the book definitely helps to diminish stigma. She has
sent a letter that we report below:
Why a book about a network contract?
“I have lived with my bipolar disturbance for a long, long time. But I
have never got used to the problems that come along with the illness. A
very big pain is the stigma connected to it. The feeling that I am
“different”, and that I had better shut up about it, because it is bad
and makes me inferior to “normal” people. This stigma has weakened me
and diminished my selfestimation. Also my family and friends have had
difficulties relating to my illness: “Do we dare to talk to her about
it, she is so vulnerable”. The quality of most of my relationships has
lost some of its joy. It has also been stressful to look for a new job:
Shall I tell about 10 my illness, or shall I hide it? All this makes me
to a certain extent an outsider. And I want to be close to other people!
I think everybody who suffers from a mental problem will know and
understand what I am talking about. It is painful to have to
inhibit important feelings and experiences because they are supposed to
be inferior. I have tried to live “on two tracks” for many years.
Like all human beings I want to be included, to express my feelings, and
that other people express their feelings to me. Therefore I have
developed the strategy of working and trying to be a “normal” citizen
most of the time, and being silent about the fact that I get manic
sometimes (pretty often when I look backwards!) and go to hospital. It
has kept me on the working marking, but…… about 10 years ago I could not
stand any longer that the situation got absolutely too weird for my
daughter, who felt a responsibility and a shame for my illness which was
a very very heavy burden for her. She had no trust in me, she
stigmatised herself, she was worried all the time that I might become
ill again, and she was controlling my behaviour, and this was horrible
for both of us. And neither she nor me could talk about it, it was a
silent but very obvious suffering.
I asked some friends, and my two brothers, if they would trust me so
much that they would sign a contract with me… And the doctor and a key
person from the staff also accepted to do it... And we got a contract
between patientfamily/friends-doctor/staff about how to act at an
outbreak of mania. And how to handle the vow of confidentiality. And
after a while other people got interested in this simple and including
way to handle manic episodes, and this book came to be. And a professor
at the Institution of Mental Health at the University of Middle England
heard about it and helped me to translate it into English.”
/Laila Gentzel.
If you are interested in the book contact
E-mail: laila.gentzel@zeta.telenordia.se
|
|
|
