Deconstructing myths about helpline services: research on the influence of prejudiced attitudes on young people's seeking psychological help

the article explores the problem of insufficient demand for helpline services among young people. Today people communicate to a greater extent through messengers, sending text and voice messages. In this regard, calls to the helpline may become less popular among young people. There are also other reasons that may be a barrier to calling the helpline. These may include the stigma of seeking help, lack of information about how the service works and what problems can be reported to the helpline. Moreover, young people may doubt the anonymity and confidentiality of calls or worry that they will be misunderstood or judged. Another reason is the belief that the line is staffed by non-professional psychologists. The aim of the study is to identify the influence of prejudiced attitudes and myths on young people's seeking psychological help. On the basis of theoretical analysis of the phenomenon of trust and empirical research conducted by the method of questionnaire among young people, the main reasons for distrust of helplines were identified. The results showed that young people fear violation of confidentiality and consider their problems insufficiently significant to contact the service. Based on the findings, recommendations are proposed to increase trust in helpline services and increase their relevance among young people, including information campaigns, counsellors' professional development and the use of social networks.

helpline, trust, youth, online counselling, attitudes, psychological help