09/10/2025
The World Mental Health Day
10th October’2025
Theme: “Access to service: Mental Health in catastrophes and emergencies”
"বিপযয় ও জররি অবস্তথায় মানসিক স্বাস্থ্যসেবা যেন পাওয়া যায়”
The World Mental Health Day began in 1992 by WFMH with mission to promotote the advancement of mental health awareness, prevention of mental disorders, advocacy. This year the theme is very fortune to current global situation. The world new reports countless catastrophes and emergencies that affect mental health of victims. This year’s theme highlight that there are areas where mental health disorders can occurs more frequently, many of the affected people need professional support and that necessary support must reach them.
Let us know about term mental health, catastrophe and emergency.
Mental health is a state of psychological, emotional, and social well-being that allows individuals to cope with stress, realize their abilities, learn and work productively, and contribute to their communities.
A catastrophe is a sudden event causing extensive damage, widespread suffering, or misfortune.
Emergency is a serious, unexpected, and often dangerous situation requiring immediate action.
Catastrophes are natural and man-made. Natural catastrophes are earth quakes, volcanic
eruption, floods, landslides, droughts, Cyclones/hurricanes/Tornados, Corona pandemics and man-made catastrophes are mass violence events, arm conflicts, chemical or radiation
explotions, corona Pandemic, biological or nuclear disasters.
Almost all people affected by emergencies experience psychological distress, which typically improves over time.
One in five people (22%) who have experienced war or conflict in the previous 10 years.
Emergencies significantly disrupt mental health services and reduce the availability of
quality care.
People with severe mental health conditions are especially vulnerable during emergencies and need access to mental health care and other basic needs.
Catastrophes and emergencies disrupt families, livelihoods and essential services, and significantly impact mental health. Emergencies can worsen mental health conditions and social issues such as poverty and discrimination. They can also contribute to new problems, such as family separation and harmful substance use.
Crisis often disrupt not only access to healthcare services but also the underlying determinants of the right to health—such as safe water and sanitation, adequate food, housing, education, healthy occupational conditions, and a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.
Social problems
• pre-existing including poverty and discrimination against marginalized groups;
• emergency-induced including family separation, lack of safety, loss of livelihoods,
disrupted social networks, low trust and reduced resources.
• humanitarian response-induced including overcrowding, lack of privacy and
undermining of community support.
Mental health problems
• pre-existing including mental health conditions such as depression, schizophrenia or harmful use of alcohol and other substances.
• emergency-induced including grief, acute stress reactions, harmful use of substances, depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder; and
• humanitarian response-induced including anxiety from a lack of information about how to get food or access basic services.
Problems obtaining mental health services
• pre-existing including limited access to quality, affordable mental health care.
• emergency-induced including damage to facilities, staff shortages, disrupted medicine supply chains, and surges in demand that overwhelm existing infrastructure; and
• humanitarian response-induced including lack of coordination and insufficient training for emergency responders.
Common challenges after disaster events are:
• Anxiety
• Distress associated with injury, illness, or loss
• Grief for those who may have lost a loved one
• Loss of income, housing instability, and food insecurity
• Childcare issues
• In the case of disease outbreaks, social distancing and/or quarantine to prevent the spread of infection
• Changes in social support and socializing
For adolescents, severe distress and exposure to traumatic events can lead to various harmful outcomes, including alcohol and drug abuse, low self-esteem, health issues, poor school performance, self-harm and su***de.
Children exposed to conflict face severe emotional stress that can result in lifelong mental
health and psychosocial issues. children with mental health conditions suffer stigma, discrimination – even human rights violations.
Emergencies challenges might affect people with existing mental health issues.
You can help mitigate risk for people in your care by:
• Checking in with them regularly
• Providing accurate and up-to-date information related to the event
• Empathizing with stress reactions
• Fostering their ability to cope with distress
• Conveying that they can take meaningful steps to manage their stress reactions
Most people affected by emergencies experience feelings of anxiety, sadness, hopelessness, sleep issues, fatigue, irritability, anger or aches. Approximately 22% develops depression, anxiety, ASD, PTSD, BMD, Schizophrenia. 13% develops moderate to severe mental disorders.
MHPSS (Mental Health Psycho-Social Support)
Community self help group, social supports, psychological first aid, Clinical mental health
care. Alongside partners, we set up safe spaces that provide regular, structured activities to
help children and adolescents develop skills to deal with crisis, solve problems, regulate their emotions, and form and maintain relationships. This could be through peer-to-peer groups, recreational activities, sports, and life-skills and vocational training.
