Every year on October 10th we mark World Mental Health Day — a global moment to raise awareness, challenge stigma and press for better access to care. The 2025 theme, “Access to Services: Mental Health in Catastrophes and Emergencies,” draws attention to how critical it is that psychological support remains available when disasters, conflict or public-health emergencies strike. The campaign urges governments, health services and civic organisations to protect and prioritise mental-health pathways in emergency planning and response.

Why World Mental Health Day matters

Catastrophes and emergencies amplify distress and disrupt usual support networks. People affected are more likely to experience anxiety, grief, depression and post-traumatic stress, while displaced or marginalised groups often face the greatest barriers to care. When clinics are closed, staff are redeployed, or travel is impossible, waiting times lengthen and specialist help becomes harder to reach — precisely when it’s most needed. Focusing on access during crises is therefore a humanitarian and public-health priority.

The role of DBT in supporting wellbeing during crises

Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) is a skills-based, evidence-informed approach that helps people manage intense emotions and reduce harmful behaviours. In emergency settings, several DBT components are especially relevant:

• Distress tolerance — short, practical strategies (grounding, paced breathing, safe distraction) that help people survive acute distress without resorting to risky coping.

• Emotion regulation — skills for identifying, naming and modulating strong emotions to reduce impulsivity and improve safety.

• Mindfulness — present-moment grounding that reduces catastrophic thinking and supports clearer decision-making under pressure.

• Interpersonal effectiveness — tools to maintain key relationships and ask for help when services and supports are strained.

Because DBT teaches concrete, repeatable skills, it adapts well to brief, scalable formats. Single-session skills groups, phone coaching, translated printed resources and short recorded lessons can be delivered where traditional therapy is temporarily unavailable.

Practical steps to improve access

Services, commissioners and clinicians can adopt DBT-informed measures to widen reach during emergencies:

• Prioritise low-barrier interventions: rapid distress-tolerance and safety-planning sessions can be delivered by trained non-specialists.

• Train frontline responders: emergency staff, community leaders and volunteers benefit from basic DBT techniques alongside psychological first aid.

• Scale through technology: telehealth, brief recorded skills sessions and text-based worksheets maintain continuity when travel or clinic access is compromised.

• Coordinate across systems: integrate mental-health care with housing, social-care and public-health responses to address the practical needs that affect recovery.

Every organisation can audit its emergency plans now to ensure mental-health pathways are included.

Supporting clinicians and communities

Clinicians working in emergency contexts need training, supervision and culturally appropriate materials. DBT-UK can support by producing concise skills packs or running trainer courses for brief interventions. We also partner with statutory and voluntary services to embed DBT-informed strategies into emergency preparedness. Community and peer groups also play a vital role — local knowledge and trust often determine whether help reaches those who need it most.

Small actions that matter

On October 10th, everyone can play a part:

• Ask and listen — open, non-judgemental questions make disclosure easier.

• Share practical resources — signpost crisis lines, local services and DBT skills sheets.

• Use grounding prompts — a single breathing exercise or grounding technique can reduce panic and create space for safer decisions.

A call to action

World Mental Health Day 2025 is a reminder that mental-health services must remain a lifeline during catastrophes and emergencies, not a casualty. For DBT-UK this means advocating for flexible delivery models, equipping frontline staff with DBT-informed tools, and supporting communities to rebuild safety and connection. When services are accessible, funding is sustained, resources are culturally appropriate and practice is trauma-informed, people are more likely to survive crisis and begin to recover. That’s the future we must build — together.

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