More than 20% more calls to the ‘Tele-Onthaal’ helpline during the corona crisis
The helpline for people with issues connected to loneliness, anxiety, abuse or depression Tele-Onthaal has received 22.8% more calls during the past three months. In March the corona crisis and the lockdown that started on 14 March was the reason for 38.2% of the calls to the helpline. In April corona crisis related calls accounted for 53.9% of the total, while in May this was the case among 36.6% of the calls made to Tele-Onthaal.
Six of ten people that contact Tele-Onthaal are women. During the past few months the over 60’s made a disproportionally high number of calls about coronavirus-related issues to the helpline as did those that live alone.
Those that contacted Tele-Onthaal about issues not related to the coronavirus were mainly under the age of 25.
At the start of the public health crisis health was the issue most often discussed. Later issues such as loneliness and isolation came to the fore. In more recent weeks relationship issues became the most frequent topics discussed.