Mental health services utilization after disasters

Victims of disaster are confronted with posttraumatic stress reactions in the short, intermediate or long term. Part of the victims does not recover from these problems, suffer from for instance PTSD, and may seek treatment. The present paper focuses on the role of mental health services (MHS) at different stages after disasters, the use of MHS among victims and especially among victims with severe psychological problems, and factors associated with MHS utilization. The main conclusion are that a) the use of MHS during the first days/weeks is minimal; b) at later stages, the majority of victims with current psychological disturbances do not use MHS at that moment; c) post-disaster psychological disturbances are the most robust predictors of use while other factors are less consistently associated with use. In addition, measures to improve the use of MHS are discussed.