Although published in 2011, this article offers information that remains relevant about disaster planning for people with serious mental illness. The article discusses the importance of including people with mental illness in disaster preparedness and response, how people with mental illnesses may be more severely affected by disasters, and complications that can arise with care and medication during disasters.

This web page from NAMI gives an overview of how mental health conditions may affect a person’s life, as well as how to begin recovery. It also provides information on a comprehensive list of mental illnesses, including bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. For each condition, it provides information on treatment, support, and discussion groups and resources.

Funded by SAMHSA and administered by the American Psychiatric Association, this initiative aims to advance the use of a person-centered approach to care to ensure that people with serious mental illness (SMI) find the treatment and support they need. For clinicians, SMI Adviser offers access to education, data, and consultations to make evidence-based treatment decisions.

This web page gives an overview of schizophrenia, as well as the risk factors for developing it. It also identifies signs and symptoms of schizophrenia and gives information about different treatments and therapies, as well as how to join a study on schizophrenia. Lastly it describes how an individual can help a person suffering from schizophrenia.

This web page provides an overview of how a disaster or traumatic event may affect a person with serious mental illness (SMI) differently because of the way he or she experiences a disaster. It also offers information that suggests that people with SMI are more likely to develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following disasters than people without SMI.

This document can be used by emergency management and disaster planners to assist them in preparing for the movement of psychiatric patients during disasters. Included are the basic assumptions planning staff may have about psychiatric patients and moving them, as well as some considerations for both planners and providers.