Free Leiv Hodne from Ulleval Hospital Psychiatric Institution in Norway!

Mette Ellingsdalen (photo on right) is Chair of We Shall Overcome (WSO), Norway, and has issued this alert:

Free Leiv Hodne from Ulleval Hospital Psychiatric Institution in Norway!

Leiv Hodne, 29 years old, is being held against his will in a closed psychiatric ward in Ulleval Hospital, Oslo, Norway.

Leiv is denied necessary help to eat and drink.

"Help me before they kill me!" Leiv wrote in a message to WSO on Thurs., 21 January 2010.

He is not suicidal -- he wants to live.

He does not have anorexia -- he wants to eat, and eat enough when only accommodated to do so.

He has never been a threat or danger to anyone else.

He was totally without food and liquid for more than nine days, because he was not provided with necessary help to eat and drink, and has lost more than 11.5 kilos (more than 25 pounds) in this period. This created a life-threatening situation.

Monday, 25 January 2010, the hospital finally gave him nutrition and water intravenously to prevent total dehydration, that could very shortly have led to his death.

However, this situation is created by the hospital itself.

Leiv is not a threat to his own life or health. He was eating and drinking on a daily basis and was in good physical health until he was forcefully committed on Friday, 15 January 2010. Leiv's problem is deep anxiety in certain situations, and he has been diagnosed with OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder).

The accommodation he needs to be able to drink, is to be walked to a nearby cafeteria on the hospital area, where he can get drinks from a dispenser. This he is denied, leaving him in a situation depending on nutrition through a needle, a situation created by the hospital.

This is not help or care, this is inhuman treatment and a human-right violation.

Leiv is deprived of his liberty. He has restrictions in communication with the world outside the hospital, and his freedom of speech has been limited. He is denied all visitation from his family and friends. He is denied reasonable accommodation that he needs to eat and drink.

Leiv Hodne was forcefully committed Friday, 15 January 2010, without legal grounds. At that time he was in normal physical shape and well nourished, even though his life situation was rather difficult.

Six and a half month ago Leiv was forcefully committed for the first time, and because of a similar situation to the one he is in today, he ran away from the hospital. For 16 days he and his father were on the run in Sweden, until he was brought back to the hospital by Swedish police. Leiv had done nothing wrong, except asking for help with his problems from the healthcare system.

After this experience Leiv has been very afraid of psychiatry, and that they again would use force against him, leaving him and his father basically alone to cope with the problems, without any aid from the healthcare system. Even in this difficult situation Leiv was calm and focused on finding solutions to his problems.

On Friday, 15 January 2010, Leiv Hodne was again forcefully committed without legal grounds. He was retrieved by the police while sleeping in a hotel room, without there being any acute danger to his life or health.

Leiv has clearly stated that this is not what he wants. This does not help him, it destroys him. As one cannot possibly help a person that is claustrophobic by forcefully and against his will locking him up in a closed room, this cannot help Leiv with his problems, but only gives him deeper traumatic wounds. Everyone who knows Leiv, including his doctor, sees that this harms him.

"Let me fight this cause outside with my pen and my speech, not being a martyr locked up in here," said Leiv in a phone call from the hospital ward.

You can help Leiv to get his freedom back.

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 * * * ACTION * * * ACTION * * * ACTION * * *

Please e-mail the Norwegian minister of health, Anne-Grethe Strøm-Erichsen, about Leiv Hodne.

Sample message, though your own words are best:

"Leiv Hodne has a right to respect for his human rights. He has a right to liberty. According to a human rights alert, he has broken no law. He has a right to get his basic needs for food and water. Leiv must be released from Ulleval Hospital Psychiatric Institution in Norway immediately!

Use this web form to directly contact the Ministry of Health in Norway:

http://bit.ly/norway-health

If possible, please e-mail a copy of your comments to We Shall Overcome at:

post@wso.no

WSO may show some of these comments to Leiv to keep up his morale.

On behalf of Leiv Hodne:

Mette Ellingsdalen
Chair, We Shall Overcome (WSO), Norway
http://www.wso.no