An inspiring presentation at Hotel Eyde with former Prime Minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen recently highlighted one of the greatest challenges of our time: Far too many young people are struggling. His point was clear. We have moved from a “caring society” to a “treatment society,” where we focus on diagnoses instead of intervening before things go wrong. Who picks up the young people who are not “sick enough” for the system?

It made me reflect. Should we accept that more young people end up with a diagnosis and a need for treatment? Or should we in Herning Municipality take a different path? A path where we focus on giving our children and young people the courage to face the world and the tools to master life, so they don’t end up in a situation where medication and treatment become the only way out.

The answer could lie in our communities. We need to intervene early and use the strong communities we already have. In Herning, we are fortunate to have Headspace - a sanctuary in Huset No7, where young people can come and talk to someone without a referral. Here, they are met as people, not as patients.

I believe we must make the collaboration between our schools, daycare centers, families, and Headspace even stronger. The service must be easy for everyone to use, so no young person is left behind. When we help early and together, we give young people a better future. We give them strength for life instead of just removing symptoms. I actually don’t think we can afford not to!

Because as Poul Nyrup emphasized in his presentation, every single person has something to offer. Our most important task in the municipality is to create the framework where young people can discover just that.

This reader’s letter has been translated from Danish.