Seeking help for "help-seeking"/"help seeking"/"helpseeking"
October 24, 2014 8:31 AM Subscribe
Is the term "help seeking" one word or two? If it is two words, should it be hyphenated when it's not serving as a compound adjective?
For example, consider the phrase "help-seeking for psychological services." Which option is appropriate? I do not see how the situations in which a hyphen should be used apply. This is a widely-used term in my field so I cannot replace it with "seeking help," but there does not seem to be any consistency in hyphen use. In the first page of Google Scholar results, when it is not serving as a compound adjective for a word like "behavior" or "attitudes," it seems more or less evenly split between hyphen/no hyphen. Help seeking and help-seeking seem to be more commonly used than helpseeking.
For example, consider the phrase "help-seeking for psychological services." Which option is appropriate? I do not see how the situations in which a hyphen should be used apply. This is a widely-used term in my field so I cannot replace it with "seeking help," but there does not seem to be any consistency in hyphen use. In the first page of Google Scholar results, when it is not serving as a compound adjective for a word like "behavior" or "attitudes," it seems more or less evenly split between hyphen/no hyphen. Help seeking and help-seeking seem to be more commonly used than helpseeking.
Failing standardized usage in the field, it seems like #1 in that purdue.edu hyphen link covers your needs:
posted by Celsius1414 at 8:41 AM on October 24, 2014
I've never seen "helpseeking" used as a single word in a situation where it wasn't explicitly jargon. As far as I'm aware, the rules for hyphenating compound adjectives (like in your link) apply to compound verbs as well, so "help-seeking" is grammatically correct. I don't think "help seeking" is grammatically incorrect, but "help-seeking" is definitely easier to parse in a sentence.
posted by griphus at 8:41 AM on October 24, 2014
posted by griphus at 8:41 AM on October 24, 2014
IANLH and I'm not in your field, but I recommend "help-seeking." The hyphen makes it clear that you're intending a compound gerund (or a compound adjective in a phrase like "help-seeking behavior").
"Help seeking behavior" may be understandable by those in your field, but that's only because of the context. It could still be misunderstood as referring to some kind of help for seeking some kind of behavior. I know that's not sensible in context. But we should all go the extra mile and use words that cannot be misunderstood, even by children or foreigners.
The phrase "help-seeking behavior" with the hyphen cannot be misunderstood.
posted by JimN2TAW at 8:43 AM on October 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
"Help seeking behavior" may be understandable by those in your field, but that's only because of the context. It could still be misunderstood as referring to some kind of help for seeking some kind of behavior. I know that's not sensible in context. But we should all go the extra mile and use words that cannot be misunderstood, even by children or foreigners.
The phrase "help-seeking behavior" with the hyphen cannot be misunderstood.
posted by JimN2TAW at 8:43 AM on October 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: To be clear, I'm asking about situations in which "help-seeking" is NOT followed by a noun like behavior/attitudes.
posted by quiet coyote at 8:54 AM on October 24, 2014
posted by quiet coyote at 8:54 AM on October 24, 2014
Then you should probably be using "seeking help" instead.
posted by Hermione Granger at 8:57 AM on October 24, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by Hermione Granger at 8:57 AM on October 24, 2014 [3 favorites]
Can you provide a full-sentence example? The phrase you provided is a bit ambiguous.
posted by griphus at 9:00 AM on October 24, 2014
posted by griphus at 9:00 AM on October 24, 2014
Response by poster: Sure.
"In general, help-seeking can be thought of as a process of obtaining support and assistance to meet needs in the context of stressful life circumstances."
"Barriers to help-seeking include fear, embarrassment, shame, and concerns about negative reactions from others."
"There is some evidence to suggest that negative reactions discourage further help-seeking."
posted by quiet coyote at 9:04 AM on October 24, 2014
"In general, help-seeking can be thought of as a process of obtaining support and assistance to meet needs in the context of stressful life circumstances."
"Barriers to help-seeking include fear, embarrassment, shame, and concerns about negative reactions from others."
"There is some evidence to suggest that negative reactions discourage further help-seeking."
posted by quiet coyote at 9:04 AM on October 24, 2014
Hermoine, OP says it's trade talk in the field so any discussion about this being marginally literate is not helpful.
OP, if you are not talking about help-seeking behavior then you need to be more specific. I am fairly certain we all read your question assuming "help seeking" was standing in for a complete phrase.
I can't think of a way in which helpseeking makes sense without assuming a complete phrase.
posted by Lesser Shrew at 9:07 AM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
OP, if you are not talking about help-seeking behavior then you need to be more specific. I am fairly certain we all read your question assuming "help seeking" was standing in for a complete phrase.
I can't think of a way in which helpseeking makes sense without assuming a complete phrase.
posted by Lesser Shrew at 9:07 AM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
The lack of a hyphen in any of those sentences would make them much more difficult to understand. If "helpseeking" is appropriate in your field, I'd use either that or "help-seeking," but definitely not "help seeking."
posted by griphus at 9:08 AM on October 24, 2014
posted by griphus at 9:08 AM on October 24, 2014
After the update, I would hyphenate the first, include behavior, and start the second graph with "Barriers include...."
posted by Lesser Shrew at 9:09 AM on October 24, 2014
posted by Lesser Shrew at 9:09 AM on October 24, 2014
E.g.: "Barriers to help seeking..." may imply the barriers are helping in the seeking.
posted by griphus at 9:09 AM on October 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by griphus at 9:09 AM on October 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
Sorry, I missed your note about not being able to switch.
posted by Hermione Granger at 9:16 AM on October 24, 2014
posted by Hermione Granger at 9:16 AM on October 24, 2014
Hyphenate. It's most clear that way, and clarity is the number one rule of grammar. Besides, it's clearly an abbreviated phrasal adjective with the end chopped off.
posted by J. Wilson at 9:52 AM on October 24, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by J. Wilson at 9:52 AM on October 24, 2014 [3 favorites]
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