Queen Maxima has mental health discussion with young people

Queen Maxima of the Netherlands has had discussions with young people about their mental health at the Tobias School in Amsterdam.

The Queen was even open with everyone about how she deals with her own mental health.

Maxima attended the KiKiD Foundation’s course which uses interactive lessons to teach about mental health, sexuality, bullying, social media, drinking, drugs and money/debts. Part of the exercise was to come up with a word or phrase for themselves – one that would give them strength and encouragement.

For Queen Maxima, she said: “I give myself space. I don’t have to do everything right at once, it doesn’t have to be done the next day. I give myself the space to learn.”

She later helped a boy come up with a sentence for himself when he explained that he likes to box in his spare time.

The lesson continued with breathing techniques and later the Queen spoke of how growing up in Argentina helped her be in touch with her emotions. “[In Latin America] You learn to recognise your emotions in your body, not just in your head,” she said.

Discussions on mental health are important and personal for the Queen. Tragically, her younger sister, Ines, dealt with mental health issues and took her own life in 2018.

The Queen has been passionate about helping people with their mental health, and in 2022, she penned “You are not alone” for Dutch daily newspaper Algemeen Dagblad. She is also the patron of MIND Us.