Wittenborg Hosts MeetUp055 Event on Mental Health Care in the Netherlands

24.04.2022

Speakers to Discuss Past, Present and Future of Mental Health Care

On 28 April, Wittenborg will host an event organised by MeetUp055 about the state of mental health care in the Netherlands.

In the Netherlands, 90,000 people are waiting for mental health care. It is, therefore, clear that something has to change in the sector. Inspired by an episode on the same topic of the Dutch investigative reporting documentary TV series 'Tegenlicht', MeetUp055 invited a number of speakers to provide insight into the past, present and future of mental health care in the Netherlands.

Ewout Kattouw is an experienced expert, chairperson of the PILL foundation and author of the book 'Wie is er nu eigenlijk gek?' ('Who is really crazy?'). Ewout has been a client of GGZ - the Dutch Association of Mental Health and Addiction Care, a network association for the mental health care sector in the Netherlands - for over twenty years and in that time he received 22 DSM diagnoses and was prescribed 40 different psychiatric drugs. In his book, he asks himself, various experts and the reader the question: who is really crazy? During this event he will talk about his journey through mental health care and raise the same question.

Ruth Peetoom is a former party chairperson of the CDA (a major Dutch, Christian-democratic political party that is also part of the current governing coalition) and the current chairperson of GGZ.

Bram van der Leden is a care farmer. He has built his care farm 'bijBram' in Armeide from the ground up, together with the farm's residents. It serves as a destination for people who have exhausted their treatment options in the regular mental health care sector.

The event, which will be held at Wittenborg's Spoorstraat building on Thursday 28 April, from 19:30 to 21:30, is free to attend. Wittenborg encourages its students to use this opportunity to both meet locals and to learn more about the growing mental health care sector. The event will be held in Dutch. Refreshments will be provided.

For more information about the event (in Dutch), see here.