On 8 September, 2 days before World Suicide Prevention Day, over 30 000 students from 121 schools in Sweden will dance in a collective show of unity against suicide, one of the most pervasive public health problems among young people in the WHO European Region.
Making a difference through dance
The event, called “Dance for Life” (Dansa för livet in Swedish), has a simple but powerful premise: at the start of the school year, all new students take a break from classes to participate in a schoolwide choreographed dance.
“The aim is to prevent mental ill health among young people, reduce the number of suicides, and break the stigma of talking about mental illness,” says Erik Allard, one of the project’s organizers.
Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death globally among young people aged 15–29 years old. In 2019, over 137 000 people – many of them young – died by suicide in the WHO European Region.
Erik, a physical education and health teacher at Polhem School in Lund, had the idea for Dance for Life on his bicycle coming home from work. He was wondering about how to make health education at the school better suited to students’ wants and needs. “They wanted their voices to be heard and their own efforts to be reflected. I carried that revelation with me on the bike.”
Dance came to mind at once. “Dance can have a magical effect on you in the moment,” says Erik. “It’s creative and allows you to create and share a sense of meaning.”
He shared the idea with other teachers, who got on board immediately.
“We were very excited – we said, ‘Let’s do this!’” recalls Mikaela Hilbertsson, also a physical education and health teacher.
Part of a larger conversation
Dance and other artistic activities can have a positive effect on well-being, help reduce stress, and promote socialization in adolescents, says a 2020 scoping review by the WHO Regional Office for Europe.
However, both Erik and Mikaela knew from the beginning that Dance for Life had to be part of a larger conversation about mental health at Polhem School. “We feel the project is a good way to open up a deeper discussion about mental health and mental illness in the classroom and in different subjects,” says Mikaela.
Leading up to the dance and afterwards, Mikaela, Erik and other teachers provide students with information about mental ill health, how to cope with stress and manage their emotions, and information on where and how to seek help.
“We talk about how feeling stressed and feeling bad are perfectly normal. How you may feel stressed for a long time, but it is possible to recover, and how to recognize the signs of recovery,” says Mikaela.
According to WHO, promoting this kind of social and emotional learning in schools is an effective way to reduce the number of suicides among young people. It is one of the key actions included in the WHO Live life toolkit, which details how to implement suicide prevention programmes at the local or national level.
At Polhem School, these activities were demanded by the students themselves. Mikaela says, “It felt like they wanted mental health to be built into the walls of the school, to be a part of everything they do.”
A beautiful manifestation of breaking stigma
As full-time teachers, Erik, Mikaela and others at Polhem School knew they needed support to succeed. In addition to getting management on board, they reached out to non-profits throughout Sweden. One of these was the Tim Bergling Foundation.
“I immediately liked the idea,” says Klas Bergling, the foundation’s CEO. “Dance and music – it’s a language that young people know very well.”
Klas started the foundation after his son, the musician Tim Bergling – known globally as Avicii – died by suicide in 2018. The foundation aims to support initiatives within Sweden and worldwide to prevent mental ill health in young people and support their flourishing.
What impressed Klas was how Dance for Life was only part of a longer social and emotional learning course. “In Sweden, we don’t yet have mental health as a part of our education. Mental health is something that young people need to learn about. Life is ups and downs. The better prepared they are, the better they can handle it. They also need to learn when to seek professional help.”
The foundation threw their support behind Dance for Life, such as by lending the rights to Avicii’s music for the dance.
“I think Dance for Life is a beautiful manifestation to break the stigma around mental health and suicide,” says Klas.
Promoting talking about mental health
Polhem School held the first Dance for Life event in September 2021. All 900 or so members of the incoming class were asked to participate.
“I thought it was a very fun and creative idea; a great way to spread awareness about the importance of mental health,” says Linn, one of the students who participated in 2021.
That first event was considered a resounding success. “We could see that the joy in students and teachers lasted for several days,” says Erik. “We could see great reactions in the teachers, students, guardians, even former guardians – that was how powerful it was; it felt like it was making a difference.” They also saw the event as a way to help new students socialize and build relationships.
The event was held again in 2022 with similar success. Impact was also more visible: the 2022 school survey showed an increase in the number of students who strongly agreed with the statement that they had somebody at school who cared about them – from 25% in 2020 to 35% in 2022. They also saw a higher number of students graduate – from 91% in 2020 to 97% in 2022.
Most telling was that more students began talking about mental health.
“Me and my classmates talked a lot about it before and after the dance. I think it was helpful for getting me to think about mental health and talk about it with my friends,” says Linn, who is now in her third year.
Let’s dance for life together
This year is Dance for Life’s biggest. Once the decision to get other schools involved was made, they created a link to allow schools to register. Erik said he would have been happy with 10 schools, but they now have over 100.
“It was like a dream,” says Mikaela.
Looking to the future, Erik and Mikaela hope to get further support from policy-makers to make mental health a part of the curriculum for all students.
Klas Bergling thinks that putting mental health in the schools is a good start, but that more should be done to care for young people who have left school. “From 18 to 25, you are still considered a young person, but you have nowhere to go.”
Erik and Mikaela hope that Dance for Life can be taken up in other countries.
“Dance for Life is about doing something together,” says Erik. “This creates a sense of belonging that is magical for our well-being – so let’s dance for life together!”
For more information on Dance for Life, please contact dansaforlivet@lund.se. You can also follow @dansa.for.livet on Instagram.
If you are in crisis and need support, please contact emergency services in your local area or reach out to a local suicide helpline. You can find one in your area here: https://findahelpline.com/.