Mental Health and Trauma Support for Displaced People

What you are feeling is a reaction, not a weakness

Sleeplessness, flashbacks, numbness, irritability, headaches and stomach pain are common after displacement. Most people improve with time, safety and social contact. Support helps it happen faster.

Seek help sooner if you cannot sleep for weeks, cannot care for yourself or your children, drink or use substances to cope, or think about ending your life.

What free support usually exists

• Psychological First Aid — practical, non-clinical help offered at reception
• centres and community kitchens.
• Group sessions — often the most widely available option, and effective for
• isolation and grief.
• MHPSS counselling — mental-health and psychosocial support programmes run by
• UNHCR partners, IOM, Médecins Sans Frontières and national health services.
• Interpreter-supported therapy — you can ask for a counsellor or interpreter who
• speaks your language and, if you prefer, is of a specific gender.

How to ask for it

At a clinic or aid centre say: "I would like psychosocial support, with an interpreter in my language." You do not have to describe what happened to you to get an appointment. Interpretation must be confidential — a family member, especially a child, should never be the interpreter.

Things that measurably help in the meantime

1. A fixed daily rhythm: same wake-up, same meals, same short walk.
2. Contact with other people every day, even briefly.
3. Limiting news and video about the conflict to a set time.
4. Breathing exercises and grounding techniques — free WHO audio guides such as Doing What Matters in Times of Stress exist in many languages.

For children

Regression, clinginess, new fears and bedwetting are common. Routine, play and honest, age-appropriate answers matter more than explanations. Schools and child-friendly spaces are usually the fastest route to specialist help.

Keep reading

• The First 72 Hours After Crossing a Border
• What the Data Says About Refugee Employment