Suicide Hotlines and Crisis Lines in the Netherlands

A helpline is a place to talk to someone when you are struggling, before or instead of a crisis. The lines on this page are answered by trained volunteers or by counsellors, depending on the service. If you are not in the Netherlands, the worldwide list is organised by country.

Most of these lines answer in Dutch. 113 publishes an English page and says that most of the time it can help in English too, by phone if you are in the Netherlands and by chat from anywhere. De Luisterlijn's remit is Dutch-language by statute. De Kindertelefoon answers in Dutch and says plainly that a child who is still learning the language is welcome to call.

What you share is kept private in almost all cases; if a counsellor believes a life is in immediate danger, they may arrange urgent help. What each service costs is set out beside it below, in the words each organisation uses itself.

TherapyRoute is a directory. We do not answer calls or messages ourselves, so please use the numbers below rather than contacting us if you need someone now.

CRISIS LINES, SUICIDE HOTLINES, AND HELPLINES IN THE NETHERLANDS

Each number below was checked in September 2026 at the operating organisation's own website, at a Dutch government portal, at the numbering plan in law, or at the ACM public number register.

Notice an error or a missing service? Please tell us so we can correct it.

112, the emergency number

113 Zelfmoordpreventie, the national suicide-prevention line

De Luisterlijn, the national listening line

MIND Hulplijn, weekdays

De Kindertelefoon, for children aged 8 to 18

Veilig Thuis, on violence at home

In je bol, for ages 16 to 27

If you need the psychiatric crisis service

Meldpunt Zorgwekkend Gedrag, if you are worried about a neighbour

While you are waiting to be answered

If you are worried about someone else

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112, the emergency number

112 is the single national emergency number, and it did not appear anywhere on the previous version of this page. The government's own words: you call it for urgent help, for example if you or someone else urgently needs medical help, in a fire, or if you witness a crime.

You will be asked what has happened, where help is needed, and which service seems to be needed, the police, the fire brigade or an ambulance. The control room then connects you straight to the right service for your area.

Tel: 112

Cost: not stated on the government pages read, so we do not state one.

If you are deaf, hard of hearing or cannot speak: the government publishes several routes to 112. The Tolkcontact app and the official 112NL app both reach the control room. A text relay runs 24 hours a day, and a relay in Dutch Sign Language runs every day of the week from 07:00 to 22:00.

113 Zelfmoordpreventie, the national suicide-prevention line

113 Zelfmoordpreventie is the national suicide-prevention helpline and chat service, founded in 2009. Its own words: "Denk je aan zelfmoord? Neem dat serieus en loop er niet mee rond." If you are thinking about suicide, take it seriously and do not carry it alone. You can call or chat, whichever you prefer. You give only a name of your own choosing, and nothing else is asked of you.

The central government describes the service in the same terms: people with suicidal thoughts and the people close to them can use 113 anonymously and free of charge, at any hour of any day.

Tel: 113

Tel: 0800-0113, the older free number, still live and no longer promoted by the service itself

Chat: 113.nl/chat

Hours: the phone line is answered 24 hours a day and the chat is open day and night, in the organisation's own words. The government's contact guide gives the same, seven days a week.

Cost: free. 113 became free to dial on 3 October 2025, and the numbering plan in law now records it as a number without a call tariff.

Languages: Dutch, and English in most cases. Its English page says: "Most of the times, we can offer help in English as well. You can call us (only if you live in the Netherlands) or start a chat, and ask for someone who speaks English."

From outside the Netherlands: the phone line is reachable only from inside the country, for technical reasons the service explains itself. The chat is reachable from anywhere.

De Luisterlijn, the national listening line

De Luisterlijn is the national listening line, staffed by about 1,500 trained volunteers who hold more than 300,000 conversations a year. It exists because the minister has placed the statutory listening-ear duty under the Social Support Act with this organisation, so that every resident of the Netherlands can talk to someone anonymously at any time of day.

It is careful about what it is. In its own words: "We geven geen professioneel advies, maar bieden een luisterend oor en oprechte aandacht." They give no professional advice; they offer a listening ear and genuine attention, as trained listeners, anonymously and without judgement. It is not a clinical service and does not present itself as one.

Tel: 088 0767 000

Chat: chat-client-luisterlijn.serviant.nl, daily from 10.00 to 22.00, with new chats startable until 21.30

Email: deluisterlijn.ehulp.nl, with a reply within four working days

Hours: the telephone is answered day and night, every day of the week, all year, in the organisation's own words.

Cost: the organisation states two things and they are about different matters. The service itself is free of charge to use. The call is charged by your own provider at its usual rate, in its own words, "alleen de gebruikelijke belkosten bij je provider". Its chat page says plainly: free.

Languages: Dutch. The statutory remit is explicit on this point.

MIND Hulplijn, weekdays

The MIND Hulplijn, formerly MIND Korrelatie, is the advice line of MIND, the Dutch national mental-health federation. It is for you if you are struggling, if you are stuck, or if you are worried about someone else. It offers a free half-hour advice conversation and refers you on where that is what you need.

It says clearly what it does not do: it provides no treatment and cannot move you up a waiting list. It also routes crisis elsewhere itself, naming de Luisterlijn for a listening ear and 113 for suicidal thoughts, and, when it is closed, the out-of-hours GP service and the crisis service in your own area.

Tel: 0900 - 1450, Monday to Friday, 09:00 to 21:00

Chat: mindhulplijn.nl, Monday to Friday, 09:00 to 20:30

WhatsApp: 06 - 13 86 38 03, Monday to Friday, 09:00 to 17:30

Email: hulplijn@wijzijnmind.nl

Cost: normal call charges, printed by MIND itself beside the number as "normale belkosten".

Languages: not published on the pages read.

De Kindertelefoon, for children aged 8 to 18

De Kindertelefoon is the national line for children and young people, answered by about 600 trained volunteers who take more than 1,000 conversations a day. Its own words: if you have a question or something is bothering you, a volunteer listens to your story, whether you are happy, angry or unsure, and you do not have to give your real name.

It is explicit that nothing is passed on: it does not tell your parents or your teacher what you said. A separate peer chat for 12- to 18-year-olds is answered by 16- and 17-year-olds.

Tel: 0800-0432

Chat: kindertelefoon.gettalk.app

Hours: every day from 11:00 to 21:00, including at Christmas, in the organisation's own words.

Cost: free, and it does not appear on the phone bill.

Languages: Dutch, with an explicit welcome to children still learning it.

Not a 116 number. De Kindertelefoon publishes the number above and no 116 number on any page read, so that is what this page prints.

Veilig Thuis, on violence at home

Veilig Thuis is the national advice and reporting point for domestic violence and child abuse, delivered by 25 regional organisations behind one number. In its own words, anyone who is worried can make contact, anonymously and without obligation, and it listens, thinks with you and helps look for solutions, without judgement. It takes more than 130,000 reports a year.

It is for the person who is not sure. Its own page says you do not have to know: if you are in doubt, you can simply talk it over.

Tel: 0800-2000

Chat: veiligthuis.nl

Hours: "Wij zijn 24/7 en anoniem bereikbaar", reachable at any hour and anonymously, in the organisation's own words.

Cost: free.

Languages: not published on the pages read.

Why it is on this page: 113's own out-of-hours referral list names it, and it is one of only two free national lines in the Netherlands verified as answering at any hour.

In je bol, for ages 16 to 27

In je bol is a mental-wellbeing line and chat for people aged 16 to 27, answered by trained volunteers. Calls are anonymous and your telephone number is encrypted; you do not have to say who you are. It is run jointly by De Kindertelefoon, MIND Us, MIND, Join Us, 113 Zelfmoordpreventie, @ease and Transformers Community.

It closes the gap between De Kindertelefoon, which stops at 18, and the adult lines. Thuisarts.nl lists exactly four helplines for someone worried about a person in psychological crisis, and this is one of them.

Tel: 0800 - 0450

Chat: injebol.nl

Hours: every day from 14.00 to 22.00, for both the phone and the chat.

Cost: free.

Languages: not published on the pages read.

If you need the psychiatric crisis service

There is no national number for the crisis service of the mental-health services, the crisisdienst. The route in is the same in every official Dutch source we read, and it is worth knowing before you need it.

If you are already in treatment, call your own clinician. If you are not, call your GP. In the evening, at the weekend and on public holidays, call the huisartsenpost, the out-of-hours GP service. The doctor listens, and where they think there is a psychiatric crisis they call the crisisdienst themselves, or refer you to it.

The crisisdienst is part of a mental-health institution and is staffed by psychiatrists, psychologists and psychiatric nurses. It is available seven days a week, 24 hours a day, through that route. In an acute emergency, the same sources all say the same thing: call 112.

Meldpunt Zorgwekkend Gedrag, if you are worried about a neighbour

This is the national number for someone worried about a neighbour, a friend or a family member who may be in a distressing situation, where there is no emergency. The central government publishes it, and it connects you to a local or regional point that can advise and follow the situation up.

The government's own instruction on the same page is unambiguous, and it belongs here rather than in a footnote: in an urgent situation, always call 112.

Tel: 0800 – 1205

Hours: not published on the government page read. We do not state any.

Cost: free.

Languages: not published.

While you are waiting to be answered

A line that is open can still be busy. If you are waiting, try to stay with someone you trust, or ask someone to sit with you until the call connects.

If you have anything near you that you could use to harm yourself, put it somewhere harder to reach, or ask someone else to hold it for you. Distance and time both help.

If waiting is not possible, dial 112, or go to the emergency department of your nearest hospital. You do not need an appointment and you do not need to explain yourself well.

If you are worried about someone else

Ask them directly. Asking someone whether they are thinking of suicide does not put the idea there, and it often comes as a relief to be asked plainly.

Listen more than you advise. You do not need the right words, and you are not expected to fix anything.

If they are willing, offer to sit with them while they phone one of the numbers above, or to make the call together. If they are in immediate danger, treat it as you would any medical emergency.

Supporting someone through this is heavy, and it is reasonable to want support of your own. 113 takes calls from the people close to someone at risk, not only from the person themselves, and the MIND Hulplijn is for anyone worried about another person.

For services in other countries, see the list of helplines and suicide hotlines worldwide.

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