World Mental Health Day 2025:

Supporting Mental Health in Times of Crisis

Author: Kamila Talpakova, Wellbeing & Disability Officer

Every year on 10th October, the world comes together to mark World Mental Health Day. This day is more than a calendar event – it reminds us to keep conversations about mental wellbeing alive, relevant, and full of hope. It’s a moment to pause, reflect, and ask ourselves: how can we better support one another, especially during life’s most overwhelming moments?  

This year’s theme highlights a reality we cannot ignore: the urgent need for accessible mental health support during catastrophes and emergencies. Around the globe, countless lives are shaken by wars, natural disasters, pandemics, forced migration, and humanitarian crises. The physical damage is visible – collapsed homes, displaced families, injured bodies. Yet, the invisible impact on minds and hearts often runs deeper and lasts longer.  Research shows that nearly a third of people affected by disasters experience significant mental health struggles, including anxiety, depression, PTSD, and difficulties coping with daily life¹. Children, women, refugees, and displaced individuals are often the most vulnerable, and for some, the weight of trauma doesn’t lessen with time – it can even deepen in the aftermath resettlement^2,3

Supporting Those Who Support Others 

It’s not only survivors who carry the burden. First responders, frontline workers, and caregivers, the very people providing life-saving aid, are often repeatedly exposed to trauma. They face compassion fatigue, moral injury, and their own silent struggles with mental health⁴. To build truly sustainable systems of care, we must remember that supporting the supporters is just as vital as caring for survivors.  

The Role of Media and Shared Experience

Media coverage also shapes how we collectively experience crises. Continuous exposure to stories of violence, disasters, or political instability can increase fear and stress, even for those far from the events, highlighting just how interconnected our mental health truly is⁵. 

Finding Hope and Resilience 

Despite devastation, communities and organisations are finding creative ways to respond. From community-based initiatives that support healing after earthquakes, floods, and conflicts^6,7, to local health workers trained in psychological first aid who offer immediate, culturally sensitive care, the impact is powerful. In refugee camps, safe spaces and group activities help children restore trust, routine, and a sense of normalcy⁸. Technology, including mobile apps, helplines, and teletherapy, bridges gaps when access to care is limited^9,10. These examples show that early and sustained support can rebuild resilience, dignity, and hope, even after trauma.  

Mental Health is a Human Right 

At its heart, World Mental Health Day reminds us that mental health is a universal human right. In times of crisis, mental health support is essential, just like food, water, and shelter. And here’s where each of us comes in. Whether by showing kindness, listening without judgment, checking in on a friend, or supporting initiatives that expand access to care, we all have a role to play. Change begins with compassion, and compassion is something every single one of us can give. 

This World Mental Health Day, let’s stand together for a world where mental health support is available to everyone, everywhere – even in the darkest of times. 

References  

1. Duffy, M., & Shaefer, H. L. (2022). In the aftermath of the storm: Administrative burden in disaster recovery. Social Service Review, 96(3), 507-533. 

2. Carpiniello, B. (2023). The mental health costs of armed conflicts—a review of systematic reviews conducted on refugees, asylum-seekers and people living in war zones. International journal of environmental research and public health, 20(4), 2840. 

3. Lie, B. (2002). A 3-year follow-up study of psychosocial functioning and general symptoms in settled refugees. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 106(6), pp.415–425. doi:https://doi.org/10.1034/j.1600-0447.2002.01436.x. 

4. Sat, N. A. C., Kadir, N. B. Y. A., Mohd, R. H., Abdullah, H., & Nor, M. (2025). The Scoping Review of Depression and Suicidal Ideation among Police and Front-liners. e-BANGI, 22(1), 27-44.  

5. Hobfoll, S. E., Watson, P., Bell, C. C., Bryant, R., Brymer, M. J., Friedman, M. J., et al. (2007). Five essential elements of immediate and mid-term mass trauma intervention: empirical evidence. Psychiatry 70, 283–315. doi: 10.1521/psyc.2007.70.4.283 

6. Bowe, M., Wakefield, J. R., Kellezi, B., Stevenson, C., McNamara, N., Jones, B. A., … & Heym, N. (2022). The mental health benefits of community helping during crisis: Coordinated helping, community identification and sense of unity during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 32(3), 521-535. 

7. Obeagu, E. I., & Obeagu, G. U. (2024). Mental Health and Psychosocial Effects of natural disaster on HIV Patients. Sciences, 4(1), 38-44. 

8. Cohen, F., & Yaeger, L. (2021). Task-shifting for refugee mental health and psychosocial support: A scoping review of services in humanitarian settings through the lens of RE-AIM. Implementation Research and Practice, 2, 2633489521998790. 

9. Nielsen, S. Y., Sağaltıcı, E., & Demirci, O. O. (2022). Telemental health care provides much-needed support to refugees. Nature Human Behaviour, 6(6), 751-752.  

10. Samara, O., Shkrabiuk, V., Kompanovych, M., Liebiedieva, S., Mateiko, N., & Shelever, O. (2022). Psychological Aid to Victims of War and the Covid Pandemic-19 in Ukraine. BRAIN. Broad Research in Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience, 13(4), 227-241.