noun
- the act of providing for or helping or the ability to provide for or help oneself without assistance from others.
- Law. the act or right of remedying a wrong, without resorting to legal proceedings.
- the acquiring of information or the solving of one’s problems, especially those of a psychological nature, without the direct supervision of professionals or experts, as by independent reading or by joining or forming lay groups that are devoted to one’s interests or goals.
adjective
- of or relating to a book, article, home study course, or the like, offering an individual information or counseling intended to be personally beneficial or profitable: self-help books on overcoming shyness.
noun
- the act or state of providing the means to help oneself without relying on the assistance of others
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- the practice of solving one’s problems by joining or forming a group designed to help those suffering from a particular problem
- (as modifier)a self-help group
n.1831, from self- + help (n.). Apparently coined by Carlyle. British Self-Help Emigration Society is attested from 1887.