What is Disaster Mental Health?
Disaster mental health refers to mental health services for victims, first responders, and medical personnel who experience disaster. Disaster can include a wide variety of sudden, catastrophic events that cause loss of life, such as an earthquake, a terrorist attack, or even a global pandemic.
What Conditions Are Associated With Disaster Mental Health?
Traumatic experiences during disaster can produce a variety of mental health conditions that last long after danger ends. Some of these may be related to neurological changes produced by long periods of “fight or flight.”
One of the most prominent conditions associated with disaster mental health is PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.) Once thought common only in military conflict, it is now understood PTSD can come from any intense experience of danger that provokes feelings of helplessness.

PTSD can have symptoms including flashbacks, memory loss (especially in relation to the traumatic event), anxiety, depression, difficulty sleeping, nightmares, and angry outbursts. The vast majority of PTSD sufferers are nonviolent and pose no threat to others.
Anxiety and depression are typical complications from any disaster. Both adults and children may feel guilty, believing they “should have done more.” Emotional flashbacks in which the sufferer re-experiences negative emotions without “seeing” or “hearing” the event, are common.
Disaster Mental Health Recovery and Lifestyle Changes
Disaster mental health treatment often includes a combination of medication and therapy. Medication focuses on reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression. Therapy can be in a group or one-on-one setting. Its primary goal is to help a sufferer process trauma.
One of the biggest challenges in disaster mental health care is the difficulty sufferers face verbalizing their experiences. Processing the emotions that come from trauma help reduce their effect on a person’s life. Novel approaches such as art therapy help many individuals express trauma in a way that helps. Techniques like journaling may also be used.
Disaster mental health patients need to identify psychological triggers in their environment. These triggers can cause them to re-experience the emotions or sensations of a past trauma. At first, recognizing and avoiding such triggers is advisable. With professional help, it’s possible to overcome the negative associations of triggers in a controlled environment.
Disaster Mental Health Research
Disaster mental health has been a prominent concern in psychology for decades. As researchers have uncovered effects of trauma on the brain, it has become clear profound neurological changes can occur during disaster even if one is not physically harmed.
Disaster mental health research focuses on two main areas: Reduction and treatment. Reduction aims to equip at-risk populations, like police and EMTs, with coping strategies to manage trauma. Treatment focuses on the neurobiology of trauma, creating better clinical resources for disaster mental health.
Why is Further Disaster Mental Health Research Necessary?
Millions of people all around the world are affected by mental health issues arising from disaster. The lessons of disaster mental health apply to everything from the COVID-19 outbreak to individual experiences of sexual assault or other criminal violence. With that in mind, all disaster mental health research has potential to help a broad spectrum of the population.
Disaster Mental Health Clinical Trials
This list contains all disaster mental health clinical trials on record at ClinicalTrials.gov. To feature a clinical trial on our site, contact us.
- A Study to Assess the Efficacy and Safety of Empasiprubart Versus IVIg in Adults With Multifocal Motor Neuropathyon September 18, 2025 at 4:00 am
Conditions: Multifocal Motor Neuropathy (MMN); MMN Interventions: Biological: Empasiprubart; Biological: IVIG (Intravenous Immunoglobulin); Other: Empasiprubart-placebo; Other: IVIg-placebo Sponsors: argenx Recruiting
- Arlington Longitudinal Optimal Healthy Aging Study (ALOHA)on September 18, 2025 at 4:00 am
Conditions: Alzheimer Disease (AD); Cardio Vascular Disease; Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI); Frailty Syndrome; Disability Physical; Hypertension; Metabolic Syndrome (MetS); Healthy Aging; Obesity &Amp; Overweight Sponsors: Marymount University; Potomac Health Foundations Recruiting
- Peer Counselling to Reduce Psychological Distress and Exposure to Violence Among Sexual and Gender Minoritieson September 18, 2025 at 4:00 am
Conditions: Mental Health; Psychological Distress; Secondary Violence Reduction; Discrimination; Sexual and Gender Minorities; Minority Groups; Homosexuality; Domestic Violence; Gender Based Violence Interventions: Behavioral: SAATHI intervention (Augmented PM+ counseling); Behavioral: SAATHI intervention with Peer-Led Group Meetings Sponsors: Public Health and Environment Research Centre (PERC), Nepal; Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, University of Bergen; Blue Diamond Society, Nepal; Sahayatri Samaj, Parsa; Friends Hetauda, Makwanpur; Pahichan Nepal, Sarlahi; Manab Sachet Samaj, Chitwan; Sunaulo Bihani Samaj, Dhanusha; CruiseAIDS Nepal, Kathmandu; Parichaya Samaj, Lalitpur Recruiting
- Study to Evaluate Efficacy and Safety of Romosozumab Compared With Bisphosphonates in Children and Adolescents With Osteogenesis Imperfectaon September 18, 2025 at 4:00 am
Conditions: Osteogenesis Imperfecta Interventions: Drug: Romosozumab; Drug: Bisphosphonate Sponsors: Amgen Recruiting
- Screening for Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) and Cognitive Function in Individuals With History of Strokeon September 18, 2025 at 4:00 am
Conditions: Stroke; Brain Disease; Vascular Diseases; Cerebrovascular Disorder Sponsors: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) Recruiting
- Upper Extremity Functional Skills in Patients With Parkinson Disease (pwPD)on September 18, 2025 at 4:00 am
Conditions: PARKINSON DISEASE (Disorder); Upper Extremity; Muscle Strength Development; Functional Skills Sponsors: Kahramanmaras Sutcu Imam University Recruiting
- Characterization of Nociception Phenotype in Individuals With Intellectual Disabilityon September 18, 2025 at 4:00 am
Conditions: Intellectual Disability Interventions: Device: TSA2 Thermosensory Stimulator Sponsors: National Institutes of Health Clinical Center (CC) Recruiting
- Comparing Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Versus Mindfulness-Based Therapy for Autistic Adultson September 18, 2025 at 4:00 am
Conditions: Autism Spectrum Disorder; Depression; Anxiety Interventions: Behavioral: Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT); Behavioral: Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) Sponsors: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; University of Virginia; Augusta University; Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute Recruiting
- A Study to Learn More About the Health of Persons With Down Syndrome After Treatment for Acute Leukemiaon September 18, 2025 at 4:00 am
Conditions: B Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Associated With Down Syndrome; Down Syndrome; Myeloid Leukemia Associated With Down Syndrome Interventions: Procedure: Biospecimen Collection; Other: Clinical Evaluation; Other: Neurocognitive Assessment; Other: Questionnaire Administration; Other: Survey Administration Sponsors: Children's Oncology Group Recruiting
- Understanding the 'Durable Effect' Concept of B-cell Modulating Therapieson September 18, 2025 at 4:00 am
Conditions: Relapsing-remitting Multiple Sclerosis Interventions: Drug: Anti-CD20 antibody Sponsors: Heinrich-Heine University, Duesseldorf; Novartis Recruiting
- Performance and Safety of LightForce® Therapy Lasers on Shoulder Soft Tissue Inflammation Pain Reductionon September 18, 2025 at 4:00 am
Conditions: Shoulder Pain; Shoulder Impingement Syndrome; Rotator Cuff Tendinitis Interventions: Device: Sham Laser therapy; Device: Laser therapy; Other: physiotherapy/exercise protocol Sponsors: DJO UK Ltd Recruiting
- Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Child-oriented Goal-setting in Paediatric Rehabilitation (the ENGAGE Approach)on September 18, 2025 at 4:00 am
Conditions: Neurodevelopmental Disorders Interventions: Procedure: ENGAGE Sponsors: University of Alberta; Alberta Health services Recruiting
Conclusion
With more people experiencing disaster, stigma around seeking disaster mental health treatment is beginning to fade. Disaster mental health clinical resources will depend on active clinical trials that uncover further information about the brain’s trauma response. Further medical research may help millions of people reclaim their sense of stability.
Sources
- https://www.phe.gov/Preparedness/planning/abc/Pages/disaster-behavioral.aspx
- https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/325578
- https://www.rainn.org/articles/flashbacks
- https://emergency.cdc.gov/coping/index.asp
- https://www.mhanational.org/coping-disaster
- https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/what-are-treatments-for-posttraumatic-stress-disorder
- https://www.ptsd.va.gov/understand_tx/tx_basics.asp