The experiences of frequent users of crisis helplines: A qualitative interview study

To understand why some users call crisis helplines frequently.

Nineteen semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with callers to Lifeline Australia who reported calling 20 times or more in the past month and provided informed consent. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Inductive thematic analysis was used to generate common themes. Approval was granted by The University of Melbourne Human Research Ethics Committee.

Three overarching themes emerged from the data and included reasons for calling, service response and calling behaviours. Respondents called seeking someone to talk to, help with their mental health issues and assistance with negative life events. When they called, they found short-term benefits in the unrestricted support offered by the helpline. Over time they called about similar issues and described reactive, support-seeking and dependent calling behaviours.

Frequent users of crisis helplines call about ongoing issues. They have developed distinctive calling behaviours which appear to occur through an interaction between their reasons for calling and the response they receive from the helpline.

The ongoing nature of the issues prompting frequent users to call suggests that a service model that includes a continuity of care component may be more efficient in meeting their needs.