De Zuid Koreaanse krant MoneyToday publiceerde een uitgebreide reportage over @ease als onderdeel van de serie ‘Clean Schools – Schools Without Suicide’. In deze serie onderzoekt de redactie hoe verschillende landen omgaan met de toenemende mentale problemen onder jongeren en welke aanpakken kunnen bijdragen aan suïcidepreventie.

De aanleiding is zorgwekkend. Zuid Korea kent al jaren een van de hoogste suïcidecijfers ter wereld. Ook het aantal suïcides onder jongeren stijgt. Volgens de redactie worden signalen van somberheid of depressie bij jongeren nog te vaak afgedaan als ‘iets dat bij de puberteit hoort’, waardoor veel jongeren geen passende steun vinden.

Voor deze reportage reisde de journalist naar Nederland en Australië om te onderzoeken hoe beide landen inzetten op vroegpreventie, peer support en het doorbreken van het taboe op mentale gezondheid. In Nederland bezocht zij @ease en sprak zij met directeur Arianne Westhuis en vrijwilliger Emilie (25) over de kracht van laagdrempelige gesprekken, community en de rol van leeftijdsgenoten bij het versterken van de mentale gezondheid van jongeren.

Hieronder vind je de Engelse vertaling van het artikel.

“Are You Okay?” A Friend Asks First… The Netherlands and Australia Harness the Power of Peer Support

Special Report: Clean Schools – Schools Without Suicide (Part 3-1): Youth Counseling Organizations in the Netherlands and Australia

Editor’s Note: MoneyToday is launching a campaign to create safer schools free from drugs, gambling and suicide. South Korea continues to have one of the highest suicide rates in the world, while youth suicide has also been increasing in recent years. Even when young people report symptoms of depression, their struggles are often dismissed as “just adolescence,” leaving them with few places to turn for support. In this series, we examine the crises young people face and explore ways to better support them.

Young people from the same neighbourhood gather to cook and share dinner together. On some days they play board games or join a yoga session. They listen to their favourite music and talk in a relaxed atmosphere. If they wish, they can also spend time talking with trained peer volunteers.

These activities take place at @ease, a Dutch nonprofit organization specializing in support for adolescents and young adults. Established in 2018, @ease primarily serves young people aged 12 to 25, but also welcomes people in their late twenties and even thirties who are navigating major life transitions, such as living independently for the first time or starting their careers. The organization currently operates 15 locations across the Netherlands, including Amsterdam and Rotterdam. It is regarded as one of the leading international examples of addressing youth suicide and mental health by encouraging open conversations between peers rather than treating these topics as taboo.

Speaking at the @ease office in Amersfoort, director Arianne Westhuis explained:

“The core mission of @ease is to build local communities where young people can safely talk about challenges such as loneliness, relationships, school life and many other concerns.”

The organization’s core activity is peer support. Its value lies in providing early intervention through peer relationships before mental health problems become more severe. Anyone can receive support free of charge from two trained peer volunteers. When necessary, visitors can also be referred to psychiatric care. Anonymity is guaranteed.

For young people who feel uncomfortable with a traditional sit down conversation, @ease also offers Walk & Talk sessions. Youngsters and peer volunteers walk together through the city or a park while talking. Others may prefer to connect while cooking, doing yoga or making art, choosing the form of communication that suits them best.

Westhuis explained:

“Your teens and twenties are a period of life in which people face many different challenges, from building relationships and exploring new areas of study to questions about sexual identity. It helps to recognise these struggles as part of growing up and to meet peers who have had similar experiences, so you realise you are not alone.”

One of the communication skills that @ease emphasizes most is active listening while maintaining appropriate boundaries.

Westhuis said:

“Many people are so focused on what they want to say next that they don’t truly listen. We train our volunteers to make eye contact, listen with attention and engage in respectful conversations.”

The volunteers themselves say they have also grown through being part of the peer community.

Emilie (25), who has volunteered as a peer supporter at the Rotterdam location for five years, said:

“Talking with people whose lives are completely different from mine has been incredibly valuable. I believe we need more local communities like @ease where young people can meet, connect and communicate.”

“Counseling should become an ordinary place, not a special place”

In Australia, the youth mental health charity Batyr focuses on making conversations about mental health a normal part of school life. Celebrating its fifteenth anniversary this year, the organization runs storytelling programs in which young people openly share their own experiences with mental health.

Young people who have experienced challenges such as obsessive compulsive disorder or depression tell their peers about both their struggles and their recovery. Around 40,000 students participate in these programs each year.

Speaking in Sydney, Batyr CEO Patrick Darcy said:

“Schools need to become places where talking about mental health feels completely natural. Even if someone appears to have supportive friends and family, mental health problems can begin the moment they feel they have to carry their struggles alone.”

Darcy also stressed the importance of reducing the stigma surrounding mental health.

“Nobody thinks it’s strange to go to the gym. Counseling should be viewed the same way. Schools should help students see mental health as a normal part of looking after their overall health.”

Finally, Darcy argued that suicide prevention policies should start by listening to young people themselves.

“No young person wants to lose a friend to suicide. Governments and policymakers should ask young people directly what they need and make sure those answers are reflected in policy.”

Dit artikel verscheen op 24 juni 2026 in de Zuid Koreaanse krant MoneyToday als onderdeel van de journalistieke serie Clean Schools – Schools Without Suicide. Met deze serie onderzoekt de redactie hoe verschillende landen omgaan met de toenemende mentale gezondheidsproblemen en het hoge aantal suïcides onder jongeren. Voor de reportage bezocht de journalist onder meer @ease in Nederland en Batyr in Australië om te onderzoeken welke rol peer support en vroegpreventie kunnen spelen.