What Is Disaster Behavioral Health? Planning, Response, and Best Practices

Disaster behavioral health refers to the mental health and substance use support provided before, during, and after a disaster.

Whether they are natural or man-made disasters, human services professionals must prepare accordingly. While the steps your organization takes to prepare for a disaster may vary based on its location, there are certain best practices everyone can follow. To help your organization provide the best response possible, we’ve put together this resource on disaster behavioral health.

In this article, we cover what disaster behavioral health is, why it’s important, and how to formulate a disaster behavioral health response plan.

What is disaster behavioral health?

Disaster behavioral health is a field of disaster response that focuses on the mental and behavioral health of those affected by a disaster.

Often, when we think of disasters, we think of catastrophic natural events. These can include hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes, and others. However, man-made disasters have become an all-too-real possibility as well. Situations such as mass shootings, terrorist attacks, and other forms of large-scale directed violence fall under the umbrella of disaster behavioral health.

While these disasters can inflict significant damage, they also leave manifold crises in their wake. Scenarios that commonly arise from disasters include homelessness and financial instability, personal injury or loss of a loved one, and lack of access to necessities such as clean water.

All of these effects of disasters can lead to mental and behavioral issues that further compound the trauma.

How disasters can affect behavioral and mental health

The impact of disasters is often felt long after the disaster itself. While some disaster survivors can resume normal life after the end of the event, many others encounter adverse behavioral and mental health effects. Common behavioral health impacts include anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and more.

These adverse effects can arise for a variety of reasons, such as:

• Individuals who lose their home — this can result both in displacement, as they must live in temporary housing/emergency shelters, and potential loss of support networks, as they may become separated from family and friends.
• Difficulty contacting family and friends — the stress of not knowing if loved ones are safe can cause large amounts of anxiety that can be retriggered during another disaster or threat of a disaster.
• Danger and trauma to those responding to a disaster — it is difficult for first responders and aid workers who witness the destruction that these events can bring. This group also experiences an increased risk of injury and exposure to harmful or hazardous materials.

The resultant mental and behavioral health effects may cause wide ranging issues among the affected populations. Those who continue to cope with anxiety, depression, or stress-related mental health issues will most likely show symptoms such as irritability, trouble sleeping, tremors in their hands or other extremities, and/or fatigue just to name a few.

Those experiencing PTSD following a disaster will exhibit different symptoms. Some common signs and symptoms of PTSD include:

• Finding themselves reliving the event through flashbacks, nightmares, or uncomfortable, distressing memories of the event itself
• Having feelings of numbness and avoiding social situations, especially people or places that remind them of the trauma
• Experiencing feelings of being on edge or jumpy, which can make it difficult to sleep and cause irritability or anger

How trauma impacts physical and behavioral health after disasters

In recent years, researchers have taken a more holistic approach to understanding human health. As a result, we now know that mental health issues, such as trauma resulting from a disaster, can have profound effects on every part of one’s health. When performing disaster behavioral health, it is important to understand the physical manifestations of trauma.

Such manifestations can occur in a variety of ways. They can appear as benign as a headache or stomach pain or as severe as breathing difficulty and accelerated heart rates. Additionally, it’s important to understand the link between trauma and substance use.

If left unchecked, the mental and behavioral health consequences of disasters can begin to affect other parts of the body. These effects can present in the weeks, months, or even years following the disaster. Studies, in fact, have found a connection between trauma and neurological illness, cardiovascular issues, and musculoskeletal disease.

Best practices for disaster behavioral health response and recovery

Disaster behavioral health best practices are evidence-informed strategies that help organizations prepare for, respond to, and support recovery after a crisis.

There are many ways to practice disaster behavioral health to help those in crisis. Here, however, we’ll concentrate on the most proven methods on both the individual and community level.

• Provide Psychological First Aid to reduce distress and stabilize survivors after a disaster
• Build partnerships with local, state, and community organizations before disasters occur
• Share clear, timely, and accurate information to reduce misinformation and anxiety

All of these practices have the same end goal in mind: to help those affected by disaster recover from the stress and trauma of the event.

Provide Psychological First Aid

Much in the way traditional first aid is designed to relieve the patient of physical pain, Psychological First Aid (PFA) is a program that helps to begin the emotional healing process following a traumatic event. As discussed above, myriad behavioral and mental health issues can arise following a disaster. While PFA in disaster behavioral health plans is not a substitute for therapy or other forms of psychiatric care, agencies can use it to help reduce stress and trauma immediately following a disaster.

The goal of PFA is to assist individuals in finding safety and stability while also connecting them with appropriate resources for further help. Since no two disasters are the same, and everyone reacts to disasters differently, PFA functions more as a set of guidelines to organizations offering this help. When formulating a PFA plan, your agency should train its responders to do the following:

• Look for and identify those individuals with urgent needs following the disaster.
• Help affected individuals find food, potable water, shelter, and medical care.
• Assist individuals in finding family and/or friends.
• Listen to survivors, offer them reassurance, and remind them that more help is on the way.

By performing these actions, those responding to disaster can have a profound effect on individual survivors. But, for human services organizations it is also key to consider larger, community-level responses to disaster.

Engage in partnerships

Partnerships are a core component of effective disaster behavioral health programs. They help organizations provide more services to affected populations by making a wider range of resources available. When coordinating your disaster response plan, it’s important to understand which governmental agencies (federal, state, or local) as well as private organizations you can partner with.

When seeking partners, make sure to identify shared values, objectives, and goals regarding your response plan. This will help everyone be on the same page from day one.

Additionally, it’s helpful to create boundaries for the partnership. This can include:

• How long the partnership will remain active
• Which organization will function as the leader and which will fill a support role
• Goals for your partnership’s response and when to demobilize your response

After these parameters are in place, you’ll need to finalize your partnership through a memorandum of understanding (MOU).

The final step to engaging in effective partnerships is to keep them going through consistent and effective meetings, exercises, and training sessions.

Providing information to affected communities

It’s not uncommon for misinformation to spread following a disaster. As such, a crucial component to any disaster behavioral health response is providing accurate, timely information. You should seek to provide this information through your organization’s own outward facing communication channels, as well as partnerships with local media outlets.

According to guidelines developed by SAMHSA, public messaging after a disaster should do the following:

• Use simple, easy to understand messages that provide regular and accurate updates.
• Make sure information is released in a timely manner, as delays in crucial information could cause further harm and/or mistrust among the affected communities.
• Demonstrate your expertise. This will lend credibility to the information you present, making it easier for your organization to help ease tension and fears following a disaster.
• Build trust with the affected communities via your messaging. A great way to do this is through a respectful display of empathy.
• Address rumors in an open and honest fashion.

Through these steps, your organization’s disaster behavioral health plan can disseminate helpful information while combating the spread of misinformation among communities in distress. This will create more trust in your program, making it more effective.

Frequently asked questions about disaster behavioral health

What is disaster behavioral health?

Disaster behavioral health refers to the mental health and substance use support provided to individuals and communities before, during, and after a disaster. It focuses on addressing the psychological, emotional, and social impacts of crises to promote recovery and resilience.

Why is disaster behavioral health important?

Disaster behavioral health is important because disasters can have long-term psychological effects, including anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Early intervention and ongoing support help reduce distress, improve recovery outcomes, and strengthen community resilience.

What should be included in a disaster behavioral health plan?

A disaster behavioral health plan should include strategies for preparedness, response, and recovery. Key components include staff training in Psychological First Aid (PFA), coordination with partner organizations, communication planning, resource allocation, and protocols for identifying and supporting high-risk populations.

What are the best practices for disaster behavioral health response?

Best practices for disaster behavioral health response include providing immediate support through Psychological First Aid, building partnerships with local and federal organizations, delivering clear and timely communication, training staff in trauma-informed care, and planning for long-term recovery efforts.

What is Psychological First Aid (PFA)?

Psychological First Aid (PFA) is an evidence-informed approach used to help individuals cope in the immediate aftermath of a disaster. It focuses on promoting safety, reducing distress, and connecting people with basic needs, social supports, and additional behavioral health services.

How do disasters affect mental and behavioral health?

Disasters can increase the risk of mental and behavioral health conditions such as anxiety, depression, PTSD, and substance use. Individuals may also experience grief, sleep disturbances, and physical symptoms related to stress, which can persist long after the disaster has ended.

Who provides these services?

Disaster behavioral health services are provided by a range of professionals, including mental health clinicians, social workers, crisis counselors, and first responders. These services are typically coordinated across government agencies and community-based organizations.

How can organizations prepare for disaster behavioral health response?

Organizations can prepare by developing a comprehensive disaster behavioral health plan, training staff in evidence-based interventions, establishing partnerships with local and federal agencies, and conducting regular drills and exercises to ensure readiness.

How long do disaster behavioral health services last?

The duration of disaster behavioral health services varies depending on the severity of the event and community needs. Immediate response efforts may last days or weeks, while recovery services can continue for months or even years.