Marianne Borgen, ordfører i Oslo

«I have visited both fountain houses in Oslo several times, and then I have had confirmation that it has become what I hoped for 20 years ago. It is an important place for many people!»

Where does your great commitment to mental health come from?

You know, it's the way that when you start talking to people, a lot of people have personal experiences related to mental health. And in my family, in my close family, I have both had a family member who had bipolar disorder for many years, and another person with severe anxiety, which led to long-term sick leave and major challenges. And also a person with an eating disorder. So three different people in a very close family. And when you've had it in your close family for a long time, you hopefully understand more about what it's like to have mental illness, and you also understand quite a bit more about what it's like to be relatives.

Do you remember how you found out about Fontenehuset Oslo centrum? And what was your first thought?

When Fontenehuset was brand new, the Health and Social Committee of Oslo City Council was invited to visit. Then there was less openness in society around mental health than there is now. There was a lot of concealment and there was a lot associated with shame. So when I first went to Fontenehuset 20 years ago, I remember thinking "Yes! This could be very good!". Both to create increased understanding and more openness, but also because the people who came there had a place to be, meet others and build networks and a place where they could get some advice and guidance. And from the start, they also started working to ensure that someone could get into work, whether they had been out of work for a shorter or longer period. So I remember being very happy about it!

What significance do you think Fontenehuset has for the everyday lives of people with mental disorders?

I have visited both fountain houses in Oslo several times, and then I have had confirmation that it has become what I hoped for 20 years ago. It is an important place for many people! Many may have experienced that they have been both isolated and lonely for a long time. And then they get there, and then they are welcomed with literally open arms. I have also met several people who have told me that in addition to getting out and participating in the activities at the house, they have also regained faith in themselves, in the sense that they believe it is possible to return to working life. Many people want to be in work and may have been out of work for a while. And through that contact and mastery, which many get in meeting with the Fontenehuset, there are also a lot of people who have got into work. Without necessarily being a goal for everyone. But feeling safe, feeling like you have a place to be, that you have people to talk to, that you make new friends, that you get a new network, that's also incredibly important. It is through the visits to the fountain houses that I have spoken to many people who talk very warmly about what the fountain house has meant to them. So then I don't have to believe! Then I choose to hear and listen.

Congratulations, you have become Minister of Health for a day. What is your cause for mental health?

It would have to be with a different political majority today, but in a red-green government I would definitely have been involved, I would think that would be absolutely fantastic. There are two things I would start with. One would be to give a clear message throughout all systems that we must become better at listening to people. And ask the very basic question "what is important to you?", "what are you struggling with?". And we know that does not happen today to a sufficient extent. That is the foundation, that we must become better at taking people more seriously. Listen to people, let people be more captain in their own lives and feel that they are involved in setting up the help and the course of treatment that they will have. And the second thing I think is that I would bet on what you call one door in. Because today the support system is so fragmented. There are constant breakdowns so that the relationships and security you have built up are broken, for example in the transition between BUP and DPS when you turn 18. As Minister of Health, I would say; do we have to have all these shifts and changes, can't we try to create systems where you can follow the people on more criss-cross? Because it is like that the throwing ball systems, it destroys help for people. And then we have to make sure that when people need help, they get it. I was at the commemoration which was outside the Storting in connection with suicide prevention, and then there were people who told me that they had been referred further and that there was a three-month waiting period. If you are in an acute crisis in your life, then three months is an awfully long time. So talking to people and initiating measures quite quickly, in collaboration with those concerned. And have one door in instead of having 18,000 doors that you're rushing in and out of and everything becomes chaos. I would start with that.

Will it be a busy day?

But it will be a good day!