Åsa Konradsson Geuken highlights the diseases of the brain at the Gothenburg Book Fair 2025
The Gothenburg Book Fair 2025 is underway and among 3,500 program items we meet Åsa Konradsson Geuken, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy and author of When the Brain Gets Sick, who this Thursday take the Mental Health Stage to discuss how to tell children about the diseases of the brain.
Why a children’s book about when the brain gets sick?
“I often lecture at schools about the diseases of the brain and know that many children live close to affected people and want to understand what is going on. I also know that there is a lack of a books explaining at a child's level what actually happens when a brain gets sick. Now I have written that book together with Klas Kullander, and by mixing play with seriousness we want to de-dramatize and arouse children's curiosity.”
Illustration from When the Brain Gets Sick
How has the book been received?
“We are experiencing an amazing reception from both children and parents, which has contributed to our translation of the book from Swedish to English. Today, I have mostly met teachers and adolescents, and it is heartwarming to see how they also embrace the book.”
What will you talk about at the Book Fair?
“I want to discuss our purpose with the book and our ambition to give children the knowledge and language to understand when a loved one or even themselves are affected. I also hope to introduce new groups to the book, and I recently had a fruitful conversation with a teacher at Swedish for Immigrants who told me how they use the book in teaching to help their students put these difficult but highly important things into words.”
Will you participate in more program items at the Book Fair?
“As an invited guest of The Swedish Partnership for Mental Health, I will later this afternoon participate in their live podcast Kafferast i Kunskapsfabriken which highlights how we can create a better society, psychiatry care and social care based on the experiences of patients and their relatives. Besides that, I just take the opportunity to take in the fantastic experience that this fair offers.”
Have you started planning your next book?
– Absolutely, and it's already written. This time Klas Kullander and I will focus on brains and screens. For example, we explain the processes that are triggered when we pick up our phones and why certain apps are almost impossible to leave. Now we're waiting for the final illustrations to be finished before the book hopefully hit stores in early 2026."
Facts Åsa Konradsson Geuken
- Profession Associate Professor at the Department of Pharmaceutical Biosciences
- Involved in Chair of the Swedish Schizophrenia Association and numerous international assignments.
- Happy to discuss Stigma and how our use of words can affect society's view of mental illnesses. Don't say you suffer from anxiety if you're just a bit nervous about an exam, and never ask if someone "is schizo", just as you would not ask if someone "is cancer".
- I remember meeting Hans Rosling, public educator and Professor of International Health, for whom I attended a course in Global Medicine. He remains my educational role model and is an inspiration to always package and present information based on the audience.
- On a perfect day I'm in the ski lift on the way up a slope or steering a mountain bike at full speed downhill with an adrenaline rush is at its peak.
- My Talk Show Would focus on the story of me and my brother. How his illness has caused struggles with great sorrows and challenges, but also joy, positive experiences and is a decisive reason why I got to where I am today.
Contact
Åsa Konradsson Geuken, Associate Professor
Department of Pharmaceutical Biosciences
Asa.Konradsson-Geuken@uu.se
text: Magnus Alsne, photo: private