“I Called When I Was at My Lowest”: Australian Men’s Experiences of Crisis Helplines

Abstract

Background: Helplines are an accessible form of support for people struggling with difficulties in their lives and are key services in suicide prevention and intervention. Men’s experiences of telephone helplines are not well understood, despite high male suicide rates. Methods: We conducted an online cross-sectional survey with N = 684 Australian men (aged 17–83 years, M = 50.13) using open- and closed-ended questions about their experiences of helplines during the COVID-19 pandemic. Descriptive statistics were analysed to investigate differences between men using and not using helplines. Qualitative responses were analysed using thematic analysis. Results: Within the sample, 100 men (14.6%) had used a helpline service. Men using helplines were more likely to be unemployed and in younger age brackets than those not using helplines. They were also more likely to report experiencing stressors related to COVID-19, including financial stress and job loss, perceived impact on mental health and relationship breakdown. Qualitative analysis indicated varied experiences of helplines, with men shedding light on how their interaction with a counsellor, the structure of services and their expectations of the service impacted their experience. Conclusions: Further in-depth qualitative enquiry in this space is required, with the objective of understanding how helpline services may seek to better engage with male callers.

Seeking help for mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: A longitudinal analysis of adults’ experiences with digital technologies and services

“…Our finding that men reported relatively low levels of treatment receipt from phone lines is not unexpected given prior work. A recent qualitative study on men's use of crisis phone lines highlighted that some men have a limited understanding of the type and level of support that helplines can feasibly offer [29]. Given the present findings, providing information on the purpose and scope of telephone lines, particularly for men but not limited to them, may help align expectations with the reality of what phone lines can offer.…”

This Bloke Who Helps Me With My Tractor, He’s Been the Best Psychologist: The Experience of Seeking Mental Health Support in Rural Australia

“…During the COVID-19 pandemic, it was challenging for men’s health service providers to meet the needs of men ( Shravankumar et al, 2020 ). Although benefits such as limited time to travel to access support, challenges such as trust, rapport, missing cues like body language, and a reluctance among men to change were related to reduced use of telehealth and helplines ( Bradford et al, 2015 ; Trail et al, 2022 ). These challenges were reported to be faced by vulnerable groups such as the Indigenous and older people ( Shravankumar et al, 2020 ).…”

COVID-19 related innovation in Aotearoa/New Zealand mental health helplines and telehealth providers – mapping solutions and discussing sustainability from the perspective of service providers

“…This study should be considered in light of some limitations. First, although we interviewed service providers and know from other studies that service users’ satisfaction with services builds on the ability of the provider to build rapport and seamless technological connection (e.g., non-interrupted calls or other technological limitations) ( 32 ), we still do not know whether service providers experience reported in this study would reflect the experiences of service users. Therefore, future research could validate the findings of this study by looking more closely at service users’ experiences qualitatively, insomuch as quantitatively.…”