Henrik Wahlström: “Children need to know that it is not their fault.”

Henrik Wahlström is an author, creator and opinion leader who makes the invisible visible – not least when it comes to mental illness and children’s right to safety. His commitment has deep roots in his family history: a grandmother who ran a treatment center for foster children, parents who continued in the same vein, and an upbringing where vulnerability was close by. Today, he is passionate about adults daring to talk openly with children. Because when we keep quiet for fear of protecting, we leave children alone with fantasies that are often much worse than the truth.

Is there anyone who has inspired you to want to make a difference for children?
My grandmother was an amazing person. She moved from Norrbotten to Skåne where she and another woman bought a large farm where they started a treatment center and took in as many foster children as they could take care of. A long line of children from very broken homes were given a second chance at life, some even choosing to take her surname when they came of age. She also inspired my parents to take in foster children when I was growing up, and she inspires me today.

Is there a book, movie or song that has increased your commitment to children’s rights?
The lives of my grandmother’s and my parents’ foster children laid the foundation for the book “Kirre” that my mother wrote in the 90s. It’s a very dark story about a boy growing up around abuse and vulnerability, and it opened my eyes at an early age to how some children feel. It was a powerful experience for me personally, and the book also became a compulsory part of teacher training college.

How can we break the stigma around vulnerability and mental health to better protect children?
It is so important that we succeed in removing the shame and silence around mental illness, so that we can talk about it with our children too! They often find it easier to talk about such things than we imagine, after all, we are the ones who have decided that these are difficult subjects to talk about. On the one hand, it’s good that children can talk to us adults if they’re not feeling well, but it’s also important that we adults dare to talk to our children if we ourselves are suffering from mental health problems. So that children can know that it’s not their fault or responsibility, and that they get an explanation for changes in behavior that they have probably already noticed. If we try to keep quiet to spare the children, it is easy for them to start making up their own explanations, which may be much worse than the reality. Just keep it hopeful and at the child’s level and you’ll be fine!