Table 8.

Qualitative responses indicating facilitators and barriers to online help-seeking.

Theme		Quote
Facilitators
	Affordability	Not having enough money to afford counselling in person. [P889]
	Anonymity	Some issues can feel embarrassing to talk about. The anonymity online cancels this out. [P617]
	Ease of Access	Its mostly just the speed of it that helps me out. In my case I can find so much info. on social anxiety with just one click rather than driving 30 minutes from my college to speak to the college counsellor. [P1412]
	Validation of Experience	Thinking that you are making up the illness in your head and that it isn't real and you are putting it on for attention. [P1018]
	Reduced Stigma	I often go online because I know there is something wrong, but I don't want to tell anyone in my real life for fear that they will judge me or they won't care and ill just be bothering them. Online help can help me deal with my problem alone so I will not have to tell anyone. [P470]
	Privacy	It provides a level of privacy and I feel like I can control my own feelings. [P392]
	Response to negative life events	A huge trauma maybe. [P33]
Barriers
	Affordability	Hard to find a free option for when times are really bad. [P1401]
	Lack of personalization	It’s not personal: all the information out there already exists and is not tailored for me. [P132]
	Lack of mental health literacy	Being unsure what to search/look for online instead of searching for hours for a website that I am comfortable with. [P242]
	Unsure of credibility	Something to reassure me that the content I am viewing is reliable and trustworthy and having a person to discuss issues with. [P863]