In February of 2020, I moved to Stockholm for a year and a half. The experience gave me an interesting insight into the darker side of one of the world’s “happiest” countries. During my time in Sweden, I was continuously puzzled by the way society is prioritised over the individual.
I found myself in a city fundamentally different to my own, which I struggled to understand. Winter was in full swing and during the month of my arrival, we received four hours of sunlight. I remember exiting the airport on a gloomy Tuesday to dense clouds hovering above. It would be a month until I saw those clouds part. The sense of claustrophobia I experienced in those early months was suffocating.
The social isolation I experienced as a foreigner combined with the pandemic and
