Volkshilfe Wien: New Location for Mental Health Opened

The Garconnierenverbund offers twelve studio apartments for adults with mental illnesses, and the "Jobtrain" training measure has moved from Simmering. Representatives of Volkshilfe Vienna and the Psychosocial Services (PSD) of the City of Vienna called for the destigmatization of mental illnesses at a press conference on Thursday.

The barrier-free studio apartments from Volkshilfe Vienna Garconnierenverbund currently offer twelve people a permanent opportunity to lead an independent life. Clients would pay about 250 to 300 euros in rent, it was said. The facility is funded by the Vienna Social Fund. In "AusbildungsFit Jobtrain," young people with mental illnesses and young people on the autism spectrum can acquire skills they need for their individual career fields. The offer, commissioned by the Ministry of Social Affairs, is free of charge for the young people from the side of Volkshilfe, explained Tanja Wehsely, Managing Director of Volkshilfe Vienna, on Thursday.

Mental illnesses should not be a taboo topic

In the run-up to the "European Mental Health Week" from May 19 to 25, Wehsely and Volkshilfe President Michael Häupl, together with Ewald Lochner, Coordinator for Psychiatry, Addiction, and Drug Issues of the City of Vienna, also called for an open approach to mental illnesses. "Anyone who has the flu is not ashamed of it," said Häupl. "But one is ashamed of a mental illness." This leads to the topic being taboo and not publicly discussed. "And we want to try to change that." It is not a sign of weakness to seek help and use this professional help.

The fourth Vienna population survey on mental health from 2023 showed that mental stress continues to increase. People in the lower economic third are therefore disproportionately often affected by mental illnesses, as are women - especially single parents - and young people, said Lochner. The City of Vienna is responding to this and is expanding medical and psychosocial services as part of the Psychiatric and Psychosomatic Care Plan, he said. A particular focus has been on people under 25 since 2020.

Change the system instead of the children

Lochner also brought the discussion about so-called "system breakers" into play. These are children and adolescents under 14 years old who commit a multitude of offenses. "The term alone is stigmatizing," he said. "As a society, we should consider whether we need to change something in the system when under-14-year-olds suddenly develop significant psychological problems." You cannot hold the children and adolescents responsible if they develop mental illnesses. In Vienna, however, they are well-positioned in terms of cooperation between the health sector and other care facilities.

In response to the question about the sensibility of closed facilities for delinquent youths, Lochner told APA: The question is how to protect these young and psychosocially very needy children and adolescents from themselves and society from them. In Vienna, the number is not large, with about 40 to 60 minors. "It's not about whether there are closed facilities, but that child and youth welfare in Austria has the ability to impose exit-restricting measures." He expects the necessary federal legislative change for this to happen this year.

(APA/Red)

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