To do so, the nation has to prioritize funding into research and assessments post emergencies—so we can truly understand how these events affect the mental health and stability of a community at a population level. Additionally, psychological effects can take years to manifest and get under control—especially if there isn’t access to mental health services. While this is by no means a quick fix, taking a long-term approach to emergency preparedness and community health will pay dividends in improved health of the entire population. The gains in improved access to care and lessened stigma were noticeable—and these should help ensure responders and communities can work together to forge a better response during the next emergency. We must also do a far better job of increasing our mental health workforce and ensuring and increasing access to mental health services both during and after an emergency. The “Building Back Better“ concept emphases the use of emergencies as opportunities to improve health care systems, leveraging the surge of aid, and heightened political awareness to reform mental health care sustainably.
How to Develop a Healthy Relationship with Food
- According to the above-mentioned studies, many countries will experience a high number of disasters in the future and the impact of the psychological effect will become more critical.
- Inadequate supplies, shifting policies and procedures, working outside their scope of care, and requirements to practice altered standards of care led to feelings of distress for some workers.
- Community mental health preparedness is important to discover the most appropriate tool to enable a suitable response when facing disasters.
- Physical activity releases stress hormones and improves mood.
Disasters—whether natural, like earthquakes and hurricanes, or human-made, such as terrorist attacks and pandemics—create significant psychological stress. While much of the focus during this month tends to be on logistical preparedness—such as emergency kits, communication plans, and business continuity strategies—the psychological aspects of preparedness are often overlooked. National Preparedness Month, observed every September, is a time for raising awareness about the importance of planning for disasters and emergencies.
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The field of health emergency and disaster preparedness refers to the knowledge and capacities to effectively anticipate, respond and recover from the impacts of likely, imminent or current hazardous events or conditions. Community health centers often expand mental health services during disasters. Emergency response organizations typically establish mental health support services in affected areas. Community engagement in disaster preparedness strengthens mental health outcomes before emergencies occur. Professional organizations and community groups provide essential Parenting teens during the coronavirus pandemic mental health resources during emergencies.
But in order to be effective and accountable, MHPSS in emergencies must be well coordinated to avoid duplication and the inefficient use of scarce resources, and designed and delivered with local responders and affected communities. Although most people will recover without help, an estimated 1 in 5 people will experience a mental health condition in the next 10 years. All of these are risk factors for mental health conditions and behavioural problems such as depression and substance use disorders. An appropriate intervention implies strengthening the mental health component within the framework of comprehensive health services, without necessarily medicalizing human suffering or relying on specialization. The psychological and social effects of emergencies can be severe in the short term, but they can also affect people in the long term.
Building national capacity to implement policies, plans, and programs that promote mental health, reduce the burden of psychosocial illness, and prevent disabilities is essential for an adequate emergency and disaster response. Also important are intersectoral coordination and work to promote mental health and prevent mental disorders, with particular attention to the life course, considering each specific local situation; support for communities and families; non-specialized targeted support; and specialized services, as well as the establishment, organization, and implementation of activities by the technical working group (TWG) on mental health. War, armed conflict, and natural disasters such as the recent Türkiye and Syria earthquakes cause profound distress, and can cause or exacerbate mental health conditions. The Assembly asked WHO to continue to provide technical support to Member States for the expansion of inclusive, integrated, evidence-based primary and community mental health services and psychosocial support and recommended the strengthening of WHO’s capacity in respect of its mental health work. For the first time, the plan includes an indicator on preparedness for providing mental health and psychosocial support during emergencies. In addition, WHO has collaborated on the elaboration of the first-ever programme for rapid deployment of experts in mental health and psychosocial support during public health and humanitarian emergencies.
The Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress developed COVID-19 health education resources that address the unique risks and exposures of various communities, including responder and emergency personnel, health care workers, patients, families, and community leaders.60 These brief, easy-to-read, just-in-time resources explain complex topics in a way that is easy to understand and address the critical question, “What do I do? Adapting interventions from occupations with experience in prolonged high-stress environments allowed for a more timely and efficient response to support community health and enhance operational sustainment.56 Effective interventions to sustain organizations, such as health care systems, include actions by individuals, organizations, and leaders (Box 1). Public mental health interventions are essential to sustain community well-being and functioning in disasters, such as COVID-19, including public health education, risk and crisis communication, and leadership.6,55 Approaches should extend beyond treatment of disorders and emphasize wellness and protective health behaviors. Research in previous disasters revealed mixed results with respect to the impact of disasters on suicide rates, with infectious disease outbreaks typically showing no association.48 Temporal changes have been observed with risk changing over time, where suicidal behavior diminished during the time frame typically corresponding to the honeymoon phase of community response but increased in the time frame corresponding to the disillusionment phase.49 Concerns emerged early in the pandemic about suicide as an adverse outcome. Anticipating these shifts, adequately staffing helping resources, rapidly transitioning to remote support services, and community health education campaigns to inform the public about available resources and lower barriers to help-seeking are important aspects of preparing for future pandemics. Public health education by psychiatrists and collaboration between health care disciplines elaborated the life-saving role these interventions play in the lives of individuals with SPMI.32,33 Care for persons with SPMI will be improved in future pandemics when health care systems identify these as essential health care services in disaster planning and preparations and ensure that discussions about resource allocation include psychiatrists and other mental health professionals.