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The first information on Expressen had a great impact. A sick and lonely man had been found in an apartment in Haninge. It was the sister, who had been worried for a long time and trying to alert about misconduct, who finally entered the apartment and found her brother destitute.
At first, one had the impression that the man had been locked in the apartment for several decades, although the sister was careful to describe that it might not be a purely physical blockage: the brother had been away from time to time, even if the mother and especially brother had very limited contacts with the outside world.
Mass media impact
The impact in the media was massive. The news went global: the case was reported in much of the world. As a local newscaster in Stockholm, it naturally also became great news for us.
Mom grabbed. She had brought home the man, then a boy, from school 28 years ago and, according to the sister, it is she who is behind the fact that since then they separated from the outside world and lived a life of misery together in the apartment.
The mother has now been released. The prosecutor claims that nothing can be found to support that the man was physically restrained against his will.
A family tragedy
It seems to be more about misery, a family tragedy, and mental illness.
While interest may be heightened by the bestial, the utterly incomprehensible, the sensational, it may be worth stopping and reflecting on what it still says about the society we live in.
Social control in parts of our society is not very strong, for better or for worse. Especially in big cities, we can suspect that there is enough isolation, loneliness and mental illness that can go unnoticed. And the sister also testifies that it can feel completely desperate trying to get help, especially for someone who doesn’t ask for it himself.
Worry more about daily misery
On the one hand, everyone should have the freedom to live their lives the way they want. In a society, social control can be terribly restrictive and inhibiting. On the other hand, perhaps we, as a collective, could be better at seeing and paying attention to situations where everything seems not to be right.
But perhaps everyone, including news reporters, should care a little more about the daily misery that surrounds us, and not just concern ourselves with the most spectacular and sensational.
