Team:SDU-Denmark/Peoples meeting

The People's meeting


Abstract

On this page you can read all about our trip to the People´s Meeting in Denmark, which we went to for a week in June!



Introduction

In June, we went to Bornholm to participate in this year's People's Meeting. The People's Meeting occurs every year in mid june at Bornholm, a Danish Island located in The Baltic Sea. The People's Meeting pays tribute to the Danish democracy and community. Thus, Bornholm and the People's Meeting became the center for politics during the days of the event.

The Peoples Meeting describes their objective as strengthening the Danish democracy by reducing the distance between the citizens and the decision-makers of Denmark.

Many of the leading Danish politicians participate in the People's Meeting; therefore, it is possible to meet them and have a chat. By this, the People's Meeting is a unique opportunity to meet Denmark's powerful and influential decision-makers. Thus, we decided to travel to Bornholm for the week to talk about depression and psilocybin, to focus on our project and the issue regarding more people getting diagnosed with depression after the Covid-19 lockdowns.

We had the opportunity to meet the Prime Minister of Denmark, Mette Frederiksen, during our visit. Meeting the Danish Prime Minister is proof of the before mentioned small distance between the citizens and the decision-makers. We did not have a lot of time to talk to the Prime Minister; however, we made sure to take a photo of some of us with her.




Furthermore, we participated in multiple debates and presentations during our stay. We heard many valuable things at the events.

  • The Lundbeck Foundation - How is the youth's mental well-being in the new normal? What have we learned of the Corona year, and how do we move on?
  • The Nordic Council - Vulnerable and lonely young people in the time of Corona
  • The Danish Council on Ethics - Ethics in a time of crisis
  • The National Association for current and former users of psychiatry - How do we ensure the development of a (well) functioning psychiatry? Debate on the new ten-year plan for the psychiatry
  • The National Association Tracks and The Danish Society for Psychosocial Rehabilitation - Do not ask what the matter is; ask what has happened to me. Understand the reason and remedy mental problems
  • The Danish Efterskole - How bad is the youth doing after the lockdowns?
  • Planbørnefonden - Svend Brinkmann and Stine Bosse assess the SNG's: How do we restart the world after Corona?
  • The Social Democratic Party - Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, at the scene for parties

Translation of the quote on the note shown to the right:"We want to improve mental health."


We had a chat with Jane Heitman from the party Venstre, and she mentioned that there has not been happening a lot in psychiatry for the past many years. The lack of movement, within psychiatry, is why she is accommodating towards hearing more about our project. She believes that it is essential to research alternatives to the options that are available today. Jane acknowledges that some might find negative connotations to psilocybin and psychedelics; however, she underlines that it could be some of the best treatments in the future: "[...] imagine if you could use this to something that could actually help a very vulnerable and exposed group of patients."



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