Sweden is a country located in Northern Europe. On its western part Sweden shares a border with Norway and on the eastern part shares its whole coast with the Gulf of Bothnia. More than half of Sweden is covered in forest and mountainous terrain. The climate is temperate and subarctic depending on the season. Also due to its coordinates and proximity to the north pole there are long periods of sundown. According to Statistics Sweden (2017) there are a little over 10 million people in the country, and of that only less than 100 thousand are foreign inhabitants. The three largest cities are Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmo. The life expectancy is on average 81 years of age.

According to the Europa Mental Health Briefing Sheet on Sweden “there has been an increase in depression and anxiety in the Swedish population. The numbers of sick leave because of burnout syndromes and stress related depressive disorders have increased dramatically. In 2004 approximately every fourth of the women (24%) and every sixth (16%) of the men reported psychological distress”.

Sweden has a disability policy that has been progressing and growing over the years. Sweden’s policies are aimed to make sure that people with disabilities have power and influence over their everyday lives. In an article on Dignity and Democracy written by the Swedish Institute there are ten priority areas however, three are given special attention, which are the justice system, transportation, and IT. Everyone that inhabits Sweden has social welfare, however special programs have been designed recently to address people with disabilities. This includes modification to housing, car allowance, and funding for job hunting. Disabilities both mental and physical can take a toll on one’s everyday life and the tasks needed to be completed just to get by. Sweden has implemented these programs so that those living with a disability can live and act in a way that they feel they are not held back or prohibited from living to their utmost potential. Sweden has also been enacting laws against discrimination. There is the Support and Service for Persons with Certain Functional Impairments, Social Services Act, Planning and Building Act, and Discrimination Act.

In combating stigma against depression, a psychiatric reform was established in 1995. An Article by Stefansson and Hansson (2001) provides an in depth overview of this reform, what laws were like before 95’, and what is expected to occur in the future for Sweden. There are many objectives within this reform, two that Stefannson and Hansson (2001) point out are the “involvement of the individual and families in the rehabilitation process” and “social integration”, which will allow for “the best life possible for the mentally ill, on equal terms with the rest of the population” (p. 83).

References

Euorpa. Mental Health Briefing Sheets Sweden. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://ec.europa.eu/health/archive/ph_determinants/life_style/mental/docs/sweden.pdf

Statistics Sweden. (2017). Living Conditions Surveys, physical and mental health: 2016-2017 data [Data set]. Retrieved from http://www.statistikdatabasen.scb.se/pxweb/en/ssd/START__LE__LE0101__LE0101H/ E0101 H01/table/tableViewLayout1/?rxid=86abd797-7854-4564-9150-c9b06ae3ab07

Stefannson, G., Hanson, L. (20010. Mental Health Care Reform in Sweden, 1995. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 410, 82-88. Retrieved from http://web.b.ebscohost.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=2 &sid=4af557e7-dc6d-4783-b1db-3f3de9387cdf%40sessionmgr102

Swedish Institute (2018, January). Sweden’s Disability Policy. Sweden Sverige. Retrieved from https://sweden.se/society/swedens-disability-policy/