Knowledge base
Answers to the questions you ask at night
Short, factual pieces on mental health waiting times, burnout, worry and sleep. Every article opens with the answer — the rest is depth, not a build-up to it.
How long are mental health waiting times in the Netherlands — and what can you do meanwhile?
The agreed maximum waiting time in Dutch mental healthcare is the Treek norm: four weeks between referral and intake, and ten weeks between intake and the start of treatment — fourteen weeks in total. In a number of regions and for a number of conditions, that norm has been exceeded for years. Your health insurer is obliged to help you with care mediation on request, and your GP or the mental health practice nurse (poh-ggz) can provide bridging support while you wait.
4 min read
Burnout and overstrainHow do you recognise burnout — and when is it “just” tiredness?
Burnout is not a psychiatric diagnosis in the DSM-5, but in the Netherlands it is recognised as a work-related condition: prolonged exhaustion that no longer lifts with rest, together with mental distance from work and a sense of no longer functioning. What separates it from ordinary tiredness is duration and recovery — after a weekend or a holiday you are still empty. Dutch guidelines only call it burnout once complaints have lasted roughly six months; shorter than that it is called overstrain. Only a GP, occupational physician or psychologist can make that call.
3 min read
Worry and stressWhy you cannot stop worrying — and what actually helps
Worry is repetitive, circling thought about problems that never arrives at a decision. It sustains itself because it feels productive: as long as you are thinking, it seems you are doing something. Research on rumination consistently shows that this kind of thinking amplifies complaints rather than resolving them. What helps is therefore not “stop thinking”, but bounding the thinking: giving it a fixed slot, writing it down, and separating a problem you can decide about from a worry you can only carry.
3 min read
SleepSleeping better under stress: what works, and what keeps the problem going
Sleeping badly under stress is usually not a separate sleep disorder but a consequence: your body stays alert while you are trying to switch off. For insomnia lasting more than a few weeks, Dutch and international guidelines put cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-i) first — ahead of sleep medication, which works briefly and tends to keep the problem going over time. Two parts of that approach you can start on your own: get up at the same time every day, and do not stay in bed awake.
3 min read
This article is general information, not medical advice and not a diagnosis. heliobuddy is not a healthcare provider and not a crisis service. If you are unsure about your symptoms, discuss them with your GP.