Green Party leader Sofia Virta often receives harsh messages from young people who are struggling with difficult experiences, Virta says in an Instagram post.
Virta describes the messages as heartbreaking. In some messages, young people say they want to die. In others, they talk about horrible experiences.
– Every time I read a message like that, fear creeps into my stomach: what if this young person does something to themselves, she says in the post.
The leader of the Green Party (Vihreät – De Gröna), Sofia Virta
However, Virta clarifies that she is allowed to send messages. According to her, it is a great honor that so many people want to tell their stories to her. However, she is concerned that many young people feel that they have no one else to talk to.
Virta has said that she herself felt when she was young that she had no other choice but to die. She wanted to talk about her experience so that others could see that even those feelings and thoughts can be overcome and survive.
– I know how important it is to feel that the other person is not going to break down when you tell them about your most painful thoughts or difficult things you have been through.
Virta shared one message in her publication, which begins: “I didn’t know who to message and you probably won’t respond either…”
– Everyone should have someone who listens, doesn’t judge, encourages and helps them get help, Virta writes.
– That’s why I ask: adults close to young people, be vigilant. Ask. And ask again.
– But I’m saddened by how many people say they haven’t been able to talk to anyone else. Everyone should have someone who listens, doesn’t judge, encourages and helps them get help. Sees you as you are and doesn’t turn their backs, Virta continues.
Virta asks adults close to young people to ask them how they are doing and to be vigilant in general. She knows that it is not always easy.
– I have said before that I myself was the young person for whom ending my own life seemed like the only option, Virta reveals about her own youth.
