New Insights in Trauma, Disasters, Mental Health and Resilience

Dear Colleagues,

Twenty years ago, Norris and colleagues (2002) assembled 160 studies on disaster-affected people and revealed the risk factors of adverse psychological outcomes among these populations and, at the same time, resilience in humanitarian workers. The UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction and the Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters reported that over 7000 significant disasters killed 1.23 million people, affected 4.2 million people, and cost USD 2.97 trillion in global economic losses between 2000 and 2019. They also pointed out that a significant change compared to before the 2000s was an increase in climate-related disasters. How do these changes influence psychiatric and psychological responses in people affected by disasters?

Psychological resilience has gained increased attention in these last two decades, and theory and practice in this area have advanced over this period. Yet, grief and bereavement remain important to support crisis-affected people. The COVID-19 global pandemic forced humans to be physically, psychologically, and socially separated. We do not know how this historical event has affected us or will affect us in the long term. As Norris revealed, mass violence rather than natural or technological disasters adversely affects people’s mental health; thus, we as practitioners and researchers should not neglect those affected by disasters that are not as well-known or on the front page of the news. Additionally, disasters’ psychological impacts on diverse populations have not been thoroughly investigated.

We invite your contributions to this Special Issue titled “New Insights in Trauma, Disasters, Mental Health and Resilience”. We welcome both original and empirical research, as well as works that compile and synthesize existing literature with an emphasis on the latest research.

Prof. Dr. Nahoko Harada
Dr. Masahide Koda
Guest Editors

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• psychological trauma
• resilience
• mental health and psychosocial support
• humanitarian crisis
• natural disasters
• man-made disasters
• bereavement
• stress
• adversities
• support