Mental Health Gap Humanitarian Intervention Guide (mhGAP HIG)

People with mental health disorders rarely have access to specialised health workers trained in assessing and managing their conditions. This Mental health Gap Action Programme Humanitarian Intervention Guide (mhGAP-HIG) has been developed by WHO and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in order to help non-specialist health workers identify, assess and manage mental health needs. The guide provides practical, first-line management recommendations for mental, neurological and substance use conditions in humanitarian emergencies where access to specialists and treatment options is limited. Contents include modules on assessing and managing conditions such as acute stress, grief, moderate-severe depressive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, epilepsy, and harmful use of alcohol and drugs.

This guide is an adaptation of the WHO mhGAP Intervention Guide (mhGAP-IG) for Mental, Neurological and Substance Use Disorders in Non-specialized Health Settings for use in humanitarian emergencies. It extracts essential information from the full mhGAP-IG and includes additional elements specific to humanitarian emergency contexts.