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.
- Effects of Home-based Surface Electrical Stimulation for Patients with Cervical Myofascial Pain Syndromeon January 17, 2025 at 5:00 am
Conditions: Myofascial Pain Syndrome of Neck Interventions: Device: Surface electrical stimulation (SES); Other: Remote medical support Sponsors: Taipei Medical University WanFang Hospital Recruiting
- Neuropsychiatric Research Databases for People With Intellectual Disabilities and Epilepsy (REFINE)on January 17, 2025 at 5:00 am
Conditions: Epilepsy; Intellectual Disability; Learning Disability Sponsors: University of Plymouth; Peninsula Clinical Trials Unit Recruiting
- Carbofix Pedicle Screw System: Evaluation of the Clinical and Radiographic Outcomes of the Use of a Carbon Fiber Device Compared to Titanium Devices in Patients Undergoing Spinal Arthrodesis for Degenerative Spinal Diseaseson January 17, 2025 at 5:00 am
Conditions: Degenerative Disc Disease Interventions: Procedure: Titanium; Procedure: Carbofix Sponsors: Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli Recruiting
- Enhancing Transdiagnostic Mechanisms of Cognitive Dyscontrol (R33)on January 17, 2025 at 5:00 am
Conditions: Anxiety Disorders; Depression; Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Interventions: Behavioral: COGENT; Other: Sham Program Sponsors: University of California, San Diego Recruiting
- Effects of Muscadine Grape Extract in Men With Prostate Cancer on Androgen Deprivation Therapyon January 17, 2025 at 5:00 am
Conditions: Recurrent Prostate Cancer Interventions: Drug: MGE; Other: Placebo; Other: ADT Sponsors: Wake Forest University Health Sciences Recruiting
- A Study of the Efficacy and Safety of Belimumab in Adults With Interstitial Lung Disease Associated With Connective Tissue Diseaseon January 17, 2025 at 5:00 am
Conditions: Lung Diseases, Interstitial Interventions: Biological: Belimumab; Other: Placebo Sponsors: GlaxoSmithKline Recruiting
- Survivorship Post-HCT Optimization Programon January 17, 2025 at 5:00 am
Conditions: Hematologic Malignancy Interventions: Behavioral: Exercise training Sponsors: Duke University Recruiting
- An Open-label Study to Assess the Safety, Efficacy, and Cellular Kinetics of YTB323 in Relapsing Multiple Sclerosison January 17, 2025 at 5:00 am
Conditions: Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis Interventions: Biological: rapcabtagene autoleucel (YTB323) Sponsors: Novartis Pharmaceuticals Recruiting
- Characterization of Nociception Phenotype in Individuals With Intellectual Disabilityon January 17, 2025 at 5:00 am
Conditions: Intellectual Disability Interventions: Device: TSA2 Thermosensory Stimulator Sponsors: National Institutes of Health Clinical Center (CC) Recruiting
- A Clinical Study to Assess the Efficacy and Safety of Leriglitazone in Adult Male Subjects With Cerebral Adrenoleukodystrophyon January 17, 2025 at 5:00 am
Conditions: Cerebral Adrenoleukodystrophy (cALD) Interventions: Drug: Leriglitazone; Drug: Placebo Sponsors: Minoryx Therapeutics, S.L. Recruiting
- Screening for Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) and Cognitive Function in Individuals With History of Strokeon January 17, 2025 at 5:00 am
Conditions: Stroke; Brain Disease; Vascular Diseases; Cerebrovascular Disorder Sponsors: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) Recruiting
- Memantine Augmentation of Targeted Cognitive Training in Schizophreniaon January 17, 2025 at 5:00 am
Conditions: Schizophrenia; Schizoaffective Disorder Interventions: Drug: Memantine; Drug: Placebo Sponsors: University of California, San Diego 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