Planning for Mental Health Needs During COVID-19.

Purpose Of Review: The ability to effectively prepare for and respond to the psychological fallout from large-scale disasters is a core competency of military mental health providers, as well as civilian emergency response teams. Disaster planning should be situation specific and data driven; vague, broad-spectrum planning can contribute to unprepared mental health teams and underserved patient populations. Herein, we review data on mental health sequelae from the twenty-first century pandemics, including SARS-CoV2 (COVID-19), and offer explanations for observed trends, insights regarding anticipated needs, and recommendations for preliminary planning on how to best allocate limited mental health resources.