Mental Health in Humanitarian Emergencies
This year's theme for World Mental Health Day, Access to Services- Mental Health in Catastrophes and Emergencies, highlights the need for people of all ages to have access to mental health support when experiencing humanitarian crises of any kind. Because mental and physical health are interconnected, poor mental health may adversely affect one's overall health. Children and adults who endure crises such as natural disasters, epidemics, and war must have access to mental health services in addition to having their physical needs met. World Mental Health Day helps to bring awareness to this need.
ARTICLES:
- Sudan: A Health Catastrophe Ignored. The Lancet article, 2025. Survivors face deep stigma and almost no access to mental health support.
- Wildfire Mental Health Support Programs. Journal of Public Health Policy article, 2025. Emotional well-being and access to specialized health services are among the most challenging health concerns of those affected by wildfires.
- Impact of Displacement on Mental Health in War‐Exposed Ukrainian Adolescents: A Longitudinal Study. World Psychiatry article, 2025.
- From Starvation to Depression: Unveiling the Link between the Great Famine and Late-Life Depression. BMC Public Health article, 2024. This study aims to explore how the experience of the Chinese Great Famine from 1959 to 1961 affects the risk of depressive symptoms among the elderly.
EBOOKS & VIDEO:
- An International Perspective on Disasters and Children's Mental Health. eBook, 2019. This book provides a broad international perspective on the psychological trauma faced by children and adolescents exposed to major disasters, and on the local public health response to their needs...
- Disaster Mental Health Community Planning: A Manual for Trauma-Informed Collaboration. eBook, 2020. Disaster Mental Health Community Planning is a step-by-step guide to developing mental health disaster plans, assisting communities to act on long-term resilience and recovery...
- Climate Change and Mental Health Equity. eBook, 2024. Climate change is a driver of poverty, poor mental health, inequity, and increased intersectional vulnerability, with significant differential global impacts on individual and community health and well-being.
- Disaster Mental Health & Crisis Stabilization for Children. Jennifer Baggerly with Microtraining Associates eVideo, 2007. Video discusses the impact of disaster and crisis on children.
Cover image credit: World Health Organization. (2025). World Mental Health Day 2025. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-mental-health-day/2025.