Psychiatrist and philosopher Damiaan Denys opened with a confrontational lecture on the paradox of the Netherlands: a prosperous country in which nearly half the population once met the criteria for a mental disorder. His sharp conclusion: "If the trend continues, it will soon be abnormal to still be normal."

Then Ferry Zandvliet shared his moving story as a survivor of the Bataclan attack in 2015. He showed how important it is to take responsibility for your own thoughts and feelings. From his experience, he feels called to inspire and help others.

The musical and theatrical contributions of Speelman & Speelman and Theaterlab7 were the thread of the evening: they connected the speakers and made it one cohesive whole.

After the break, the stage was set for rapper Rico McDougal, known for Opgezwolle. He spoke candidly about his struggle with addiction and stressed the importance of sharing feelings to prevent relapse: "You can't have been an addict, you stay that way forever. Sharing is healing."

Finally, Japke-d. Bouma, in her characteristic sharp way, made us look differently at language and male-female relationships in the workplace. She asked questions that make you think: "Why do we talk about power women and not power men? And what does the word dad day really mean?" Her appeal: let's look past labels; at the end of the day, we are all human beings.

The symposium offered a good mix of personal stories, confrontational insights, but also light-hearted moments. Totally different from last year's edition, but at least as inspiring.

See you next year at the 2026 Different Thinking Symposium!