Start with your huisarts
If you need mental-health support, make an appointment with your huisarts. Care provided within the GP practice does not fall under the mandatory eigen risico (deductible). Your huisarts can send you for insured specialist treatment; in that case the deductible usually applies. Call 112 if there is immediate danger. If you have suicidal thoughts but no immediate danger, phone 113 Zelfmoordpreventie (suicide prevention) or use its chat, which is available day and night.
This guide addresses adults who live in the Netherlands. The cost rules described below relate to Dutch basic health insurance. Children follow a different route.
Urgent help before you have a referral
If you are in a mental-health crisis and already have a clinician, contact that clinician. If you do not, contact your huisarts. When the practice is closed, contact the huisartsenpost (out-of-hours GP service). Tell them you are having a mental-health crisis. Call 112 if someone’s life is in immediate danger.
How can I get mental-health support?
Make an appointment with your huisarts. Describe what has changed, how long it has been going on, and what you can no longer handle. The huisarts can assist you directly or bring in the POH-GGZ (mental-health worker in the GP practice). Basic insurance pays for this GP care without the mandatory deductible. A bedrijfsarts (company doctor) can also assist with problems related to work and can refer you to GGZ (geestelijke gezondheidszorg, mental healthcare). If you need to find a huisarts, read Finding and using a huisarts. Which route applies depends on the type of help you need:
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| Situation | Usual first step | What happens next |
|---|---|---|
| Lighter or unclear complaints | Huisarts or POH-GGZ | Short support in the GP practice, or a review if you do not improve. |
| Problems mixed with debt, housing or loneliness | Huisarts | The huisarts may arrange a verkennend gesprek (exploratory conversation) with GGZ and social support. |
| Moderate problems or a suspected disorder | Huisarts or bedrijfsarts | Referral to generalistische basis-GGZ (basic mental healthcare) may follow. |
| Severe, complex or high-risk problems | Huisarts, bedrijfsarts or arts bij spoedeisende hulp (emergency doctor) | Referral to gespecialiseerde GGZ (specialist mental healthcare) or urgent assessment may follow. |
For insured GGZ, a valid referral is usually required. The exception is care you need right away: get acute help first, before you deal with paperwork. If your huisarts declines to refer you, they have to give a reason. Ask what support they do recommend. A move from one GGZ provider to another does not require a new referral from the GP; the provider informs your huisarts.
What to check with the provider before your intake
Ask the provider if it treats your condition and whether it can give treatment in your language. Ask if it has a contract with an insurer and whether prior permission is required. For protected healthcare professionals, check the BIG-register (healthcare professional register). Request written confirmation from your insurer about what it will cover.
What are the costs of mental-health treatment?
For adults 18 and older, Dutch basic insurance covers geneeskundige GGZ (medical mental healthcare) if certain conditions are met. Insured assessment and treatment are possible for a disorder listed in the DSM-5 (mental-disorder classification manual), or for a justified suspicion of such a disorder. The treatment must be evidence-based. Referral requirements and policy conditions also apply. Even before a diagnosis, you can ask for help with distress.
The official GGZ coverage rules make a distinction between support in the GP practice and specialist treatment. The table sets out what basic insurance may cover and what costs you still pay yourself.
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| Care | How it is paid | What you may pay |
|---|---|---|
| Huisarts and POH-GGZ | Basic insurance as GP care | No mandatory deductible. |
| Verkennend gesprek after GP referral | Basic insurance since 2025 | No mandatory deductible. |
| Insured adult GGZ | Basic insurance if the conditions are met | The 2026 mandatory deductible is €385 for the year; a voluntary deductible can add more. |
| Prescription medicines | Basic insurance if the medicine and conditions are covered | Deductible, and sometimes a separate co-payment. In 2026, the medicine co-payment is capped at €250 per calendar year. |
| Non-contracted provider | Depends on your policy and any insurer agreement | You may owe part of the bill. Full reimbursement applies if a prior mediation request fails to produce timely care and a suitable non-contracted provider can treat you on time. The deductible still applies. |
Suppose that in 2026 you have already paid €200 toward the mandatory deductible. Insured GGZ can then use the remaining €185 for that year. This example assumes you have no voluntary deductible. A bill from a non-contracted provider or a medicine co-payment can increase your costs. See Eigen risico: the health-insurance deductible for all the rules.
With a naturapolis (in-kind insurance policy), reimbursement may be lower if the provider has no contract with your insurer. For some clinics, the insurer must give permission before treatment. Ask the provider what care it plans to provide. Then ask your insurer: “Is this provider contracted? Is this care covered? Do I need permission? What will I pay?” Keep their answer in writing.
Insurance pays for care that satisfies the conditions above. If insured GGZ is not the right route for you, you may still get help from your huisarts, the POH-GGZ, your gemeente (municipality), your workplace, or social support.
What can I do if I face a long wait?
The GGZ Treeknormen (maximum acceptable waiting times) set four weeks from your first contact with a provider to the intake, and ten weeks from the intake to treatment. These are norms, not guaranteed appointment dates. Providers publish their waiting times. Ask what the current wait is for your condition and your location.
Starting in January 2026, the NZa (Nederlandse Zorgautoriteit, Dutch Healthcare Authority) calculates waiting times for providers with a single site from claims data. Providers that operate several sites continue to send monthly data. When you request mediation, use the waiting time the provider currently publishes.
If either waiting period is longer than the norm, ask your insurer for mediation. While you wait, you can do the following:
- Stay on the original waiting list while you search for an earlier option.
- Ask your insurer for zorgbemiddeling (care mediation), which is also called wachtlijstbemiddeling (waiting-list mediation). Provide your referral, the provider, the dates you were quoted, how far you can travel, your language needs, and any medical restrictions.
- While you wait, ask your huisarts or POH-GGZ for support. Get in touch again if your symptoms change or your safety changes.
- Contact other suitable providers and ask about both the intake wait and the treatment wait. Before you switch, confirm the insurer contract and any permission that is needed.
Warning
Check with your insurer before you arrange non-contracted care
Any insured person may ask for care mediation. Regardless of your policy, your insurer has to help you find another provider. If an earlier mediation request did not lead to timely care, and a suitable non-contracted provider can treat you in time, the insurer cannot restrict reimbursement. Before treatment begins, request the arrangement in writing.
What rights do I have during treatment?
The provider must explain the proposed diagnosis, the treatment, alternatives, risks, and expected result in language you can understand. You make decisions together, and you may refuse or stop treatment.
Compulsory care can be a legal exception if a mental disorder causes serious harm or a substantial risk of serious harm. It is a last resort: voluntary care and effective, less intrusive alternatives must not be available. The care must be proportionate and reasonably expected to work. It must follow the legal approval procedure or the emergency procedure.
In GGZ, ask who your regiebehandelaar (coordinating clinician) is. Make agreements about a treatment plan, a date to review your progress, and whom to contact if your condition gets worse.
There are legal exceptions involving consent, privacy, and access to your medical record. Ask your provider how to use the right that applies to your concern.
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| Right | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| Consent | Treatment needs your informed consent. You may ask questions, refuse a proposal or withdraw consent. Compulsory care is a legal exception. |
| Medical record | You may inspect your record, receive a copy and ask to correct factual errors. Access may be limited to protect another person’s privacy. Deletion has legal exceptions. |
| Privacy | Providers must keep your medical information confidential. Sharing outside the directly involved care team generally needs permission, but care-related and legal exceptions exist. |
| Second opinion | Discuss it with your clinician and ask for a referral. They must cooperate unless they have serious objections, which they must explain. Check first whether your insurer requires the referral and which second-opinion provider it covers. |
What should I check regarding medicines?
A huisarts, psychiater (psychiatrist), or another legally authorised prescriber can prescribe medicines within their professional scope. A psycholoog (psychologist) cannot prescribe based on that qualification.
Medicines that are covered count toward the deductible and may also have a separate co-payment. An insurer may prefer a particular brand. If that brand is unsuitable, ask your prescriber or pharmacist about medical necessity.
Before making any change or planning to stop, discuss it with your prescriber.
How can I arrange an interpreter?
If you cannot understand or explain your symptoms in Dutch or English, tell your huisarts and the provider before the referral or intake. The provider must assess the language barrier and decide whether a professional interpreter or another suitable interpreter is needed for safe care and informed consent.
For insured GGZ treatment, the insurer pays for an interpreter when one is needed. GP practices use different funding arrangements. Before the appointment, ask who will arrange the interpreter, who pays, and whether you might be charged.
How do children and people with addiction get care?
For people under 18, most mental healthcare is jeugdhulp (youth care) under the Jeugdwet (Youth Act), paid for by your gemeente. A huisarts, jeugdarts (youth doctor), or medisch specialist (medical specialist) can refer directly to youth GGZ. Before treatment, check with your gemeente whether it accepts or contracts that provider. GP care, POH-GGZ care, and prescribed psychiatric medicines can still fall under health insurance.
Rules on consent to treatment and access to records change at ages 12 and 16:
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| Age | Who consents to treatment | Who may see the record |
|---|---|---|
| Under 12 | Parents or guardians decide. | Parents or guardians may see the record. |
| Ages 12 to 15 | Your child and parent or guardian normally consent together. | Parents normally need the child’s permission. |
| From 16 | Your child decides. | Parents need the young person’s permission. |
For a child aged 12 to 15, treatment can go ahead without parental consent if it is clearly necessary to prevent serious harm. It can also go ahead if the child, after careful consideration, still wants the treatment even when the parent or guardian refuses consent. Parents may see information that is needed for treatment consent without the child’s permission.
If a young person cannot understand and weigh a treatment decision, a representative may need to decide on their behalf. Ask the clinician which consent rule applies.
For alcohol, drugs, gambling, or another addiction, begin with your huisarts. The huisarts can refer you to verslavingszorg (addiction care). For adults, treatment is generally paid through health insurance when the conditions are met. Treatment for a person under 18 usually falls under the Jeugdwet. Waiting lists and insurer mediation can also apply to adult addiction care.
What can I do if care or payment goes wrong?
For common problems, use the route below that fits your situation. If your condition changes while you wait, contact your clinician again.
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| Problem | First action | Next route |
|---|---|---|
| Your condition worsens while you wait | Contact the huisarts or provider and explain what changed. | Use the crisis route immediately if safety becomes urgent. |
| You disagree with treatment | Discuss the treatment plan, review or second opinion with the clinician. | Ask for a referral and check second-opinion coverage. |
| Complaint about a provider | Discuss the complaint with the provider, or go directly to its complaints officer. | The independent klachtenfunctionaris (complaints officer) is free. If needed, use the provider’s recognised disputes body. |
| Complaint about reimbursement or insurer mediation | Complain to the insurer in writing. | After an unsatisfactory reply, or no reply within four weeks, contact SKGZ (health-insurance complaints and disputes service). Normally file within one year of the insurer’s reply. |
| Unexpected non-contracted bill | Ask provider and insurer for the contract, policy rule and calculation. | Refer to any written mediation agreement; use the insurer complaint route if needed. |
SKGZ grants an additional 90 days if the insurer did not properly inform you how to contact SKGZ.
If mental-health problems affect your inburgering (civic integration), see medical waiver and adapted exams guide for the options you can check.
Whom do I call in a crisis?
Call 112 if there is immediate danger to a life. For other urgent mental-health help, choose the contact below that matches your situation.
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| Situation | Contact | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Immediate danger to life | 112 | Call now and follow the operator's instructions. |
| Suicidal thoughts | 113 or 113 suicide-prevention chat | Free, anonymous and confidential, day and night. The phone number works only in the Netherlands; from abroad, use chat. |
| Urgent crisis when you already have a GGZ clinician | Your current clinician | Call your clinician or use the crisis contact they gave you. |
| Urgent crisis during GP hours | Your huisarts | Call and say clearly that it is an urgent mental-health crisis. |
| Urgent crisis outside GP hours | Huisartsenpost | Use the number on your GP's website or answering message and say it is urgent. |
Your huisarts or huisartsenpost can call in the regional crisisdienst (crisis service), which is available day and night. Acute care does not require the usual referral. For other urgent-care situations, read Emergency care in the Netherlands.
Read these pages for related care and integration steps:
- Finding and using a huisarts in the Netherlands
- Dutch health insurance for newcomers
- Medical waiver and adapted exams for inburgering
Official Sources
- Rijksoverheid (Dutch central government): Psychische hulp door huisarts of andere zorgaanbieders binnen ggz - The huisarts and POH-GGZ treat lighter complaints. Transfers within GGZ need no new GP referral; the provider notifies the huisarts.
- Zorginstituut Nederland (National Health Care Institute): Geneeskundige ggz (Zvw) (medical mental healthcare under the Health Insurance Act) - Adult GGZ coverage conditions, accepted referrers, the exploratory conversation, waiting-list mediation, medicines, youth care and the mandatory deductible.
- Rijksoverheid: Wie vergoedt mijn hulp bij psychische problemen? - GGZ reimbursement depends on the policy and normally requires a referral, except for care that is needed immediately.
- Rijksoverheid: Wanneer heb ik een verwijsbrief nodig? - A valid referral may be required for reimbursement, and a huisarts who refuses a referral must explain the decision.
- Rijksoverheid: Welke polissen biedt de zorgverzekeraar? - A naturapolis may reimburse less for a non-contracted provider; the percentage and conditions are in the policy.
- Rijksoverheid: Wanneer betaal ik een eigen risico? - The mandatory deductible is €385 in 2026; GP care is exempt, while most care from the basic package uses the deductible.
- Rijksoverheid: Welke medicijnen krijg ik vergoed? - Covered medicines use the deductible and may have a separate co-payment, capped at €250 per calendar year in 2026. Preference policy has a medical-necessity exception.
- Rijksoverheid: Welke voorbehouden handelingen mag een zorgverlener uitvoeren? - Doctors, physician assistants and qualified nurse specialists may prescribe medicines within their professional scope.
- Rijksoverheid: Wachttijden in de zorg - Waiting-list mediation and the insurer’s duty to arrange alternative care or reimburse non-contracted care when necessary.
- NZa: Zorgbemiddeling - Insurers must offer an accessible care-mediation service, and providers must tell patients about it when a wait exceeds the norm or a patient stop applies.
- NZa: Wachttijden bij gecontracteerde zorg zijn te lang - The insurer must help find an alternative provider, whatever the policy. After a prior mediation request fails to produce timely care, it cannot limit reimbursement for suitable non-contracted care available on time.
- NZa: Gegevens aanleveren ggz - Since 2026, waiting times for single-site providers come from claims data; multi-site providers still submit monthly data and providers publish waiting times.
- Regelhulp (care and support information service): Hulp bij een psychische crisis - In a crisis, contact your existing GGZ clinician, otherwise the huisarts or huisartsenpost. The crisis service is available day and night; immediate danger requires 112.
- 113 Suicide Prevention: English - 113 and its chat offer free, anonymous and confidential support 24 hours a day; the phone number works only inside the Netherlands.
- Rijksoverheid: Rechten en plichten bij medische behandeling - Patients have rights to clear information, shared decisions, refusal, medical-record access, privacy and a second opinion.
- Rijksoverheid: Toestemming voor delen van het medisch dossier - Record sharing generally needs consent, although care-related and legal exceptions exist.
- Rijksoverheid: Wat is een second opinion? - A treating clinician normally refers for a second opinion, while reimbursement often depends on a referral and the policy.
- Rijksoverheid: Klacht over een arts of zorginstelling - Discuss a complaint with the provider or go directly to its free independent complaints officer. Unresolved complaints can go to the provider’s recognised disputes body.
- SKGZ: Klacht indienen — zo werkt dat - For an insurance dispute, complain to the insurer first; SKGZ can help after an unsatisfactory answer or no answer within four weeks.
- Regelhulp: Jeugdhulp regelen - Most care for people under 18 runs through the municipality under the Youth Act, with several direct referral routes.
- Rijksoverheid: Inzage in het medisch dossier van een kind - Consent and medical-record control change for children under 12, ages 12 to 15, and young people aged 16 or older.
- Regelhulp: Hulp bij verslaving - A huisarts can refer to addiction care; adult care is generally insured and care for people under 18 falls under the Youth Act.
- KNMG (Dutch doctors’ professional organisation): Kwaliteitsnorm tolkgebruik bij anderstaligen in de zorg (quality standard for interpreter use in healthcare) - The provider must assess a language barrier and use a suitable interpreter when that is needed for safe care and informed consent.
- BIG-register: English - The public register shows whether professionals in protected healthcare professions are registered and whether restrictions apply.
- Regelhulp: Behandeling van psychische klachten (zonder opname) - Basic and specialist GGZ routes, and insurer reimbursement of an interpreter needed during GGZ treatment.
- NZa: Welke vergoedingen voor een tolk zijn beschikbaar? - Interpreter funding options for GP practices differ by patient and funding arrangement.
- Zorginstituut Nederland: Wettelijke domeinen voor zorg en ondersteuning aan mensen met een psychische stoornis (guide to the laws covering mental healthcare and support) - The linked 2021 guide confirms that youth GP and POH-GGZ care and prescribed psychiatric medicines fall under health insurance.
- Regelhulp: Een hulpverlener of zorgaanbieder vinden - The municipality can help find youth care; provider choice can depend on a municipal contract or another funding arrangement.
- Burgerlijk Wetboek Boek 7 (Civil Code Book 7): medische behandeling - Articles 448, 450 and 455–457 cover information, consent, record access, deletion and confidentiality; article 465 covers representation when a patient cannot decide.
- Rijksoverheid: Gedwongen opname en dwang in de geestelijke gezondheidszorg - Compulsory care can apply when a mental disorder causes serious harm or a substantial risk of it. It is a last resort and must follow the legal decision procedure.
- Thuisarts (patient health-information website): Stoppen met medicijnen tegen depressie - Discuss stopping or reducing antidepressants with the doctor and follow the agreed plan.
- DUO (Dienst Uitvoering Onderwijs, the Dutch education service): Niet inburgeren vanwege ziekte of beperking - Illness can lead to medical-waiver, adapted-exam or extra-time options; DUO decides on a waiver after medical assessment.
- Rijksoverheid: Verschil tussen eigen bijdrage en eigen risico - The deductible applies to further insured care only until the yearly amount is used. Supports the €200 paid and €185 remaining worked example.
- NZa: Transparantieregeling zorgaanbieders ggz (transparency regulation for mental-healthcare providers) - Article 7 specifies four weeks from first provider contact to intake and ten weeks from intake to treatment.
- Wet verplichte geestelijke gezondheidszorg (Compulsory Mental Healthcare Act) - Articles 1:1, 3:1 and 3:3 cover serious harm or its substantial risk, the legal approval or emergency procedure, unavailable voluntary and less intrusive effective alternatives, proportionality and expected effectiveness.