The mental health of emergency responders is essential for maintaining their operational readiness, given their crucial role in safeguarding societies against accidents, natural disasters, terrorist attacks, and acts of war. However, researching the mental health of emergency responders is a challenge.

If selection effects are ignored, the mental health development of emergency personnel is comparable to that of the general population. Of course, demographic variables must be taken into account, as well as organizational factors. The difference among emergency personnel lies primarily in mission-related mental health consequences, which pose a significant occupational risk for emergency personnel. Therefore, minimizing this occupational risk and its negative effects is a key objective. To this end, various pre- and post-deployment measures, crisis intervention methods, training on how leaders deal with crises, and de-stigmatization procedures have been developed. When evaluating the measures in reviews or meta-analyses, the concepts are generally considered quite positively, but they have not yet achieved a real "breakthrough." However, approaches and measures specifically tailored to the target group while being embedded in an overall organizational or supra-organizational concept seem to be the most effective.

This Research Topic aims to holistically examine the mental health of emergency personnel across their entire lifespan. To do this, consideration should be given to important pre- and post-career factors, including adverse childhood experiences, critical life events, and successful aging. Ultimately, these are factors that are not specific to emergency personnel. The difference mainly lies in selection based on career choice (pre-career) or experiences gained in the profession (post-career).

In this Research Topic, we invite articles related to the mental health of emergency responders (such as police, firefighters, military, ambulance, etc.). We particularly encourage contributions focused on, but not limited to:

• selection processes and criteria

• leadership and decision making within military and emergency settings

• pre- and post-deployment preparation, crisis intervention, and stigma concerning mental health

•impacts of disasters, accidents, terrorism, military deployments, and other critical incidents

• differences due to occupational groups, circumstances, incidents, and accompanying factors

• influence of gender, age, ethnicity, and risk and resilience factors

• perceived personal risk and injury, and involvement of vulnerable groups in disasters, etc.

• on-site tasks, media coverage, and equipment challenges

• behavioral problems, such as problematic anger, interpersonal violence, and delinquency

• unit cohesion, team dynamics, and support mechanisms

• the impact of education, motivation, and culture

• experience of previous critical (work-related and non-work-related) events.

Research merging these areas could enhance strategies in selection, leadership, training, crisis intervention, and destigmatization, ultimately improving the mental health resilience of emergency responders. We invite diverse article types, including original research, reviews, case reports, and perspectives.

Topic Editor, Hubertus Himmerich, receives funding from the UK Medical Research Council (MRC) for a double-blinded randomised controlled feasibility trial to test oral ketamine in people with anorexia nervosa and depression; HH receives salary support from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre for Mental Health, South London, UK, and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, UK; and HH is the principal investigator of a phase 2 clinical trial investigating the efficacy and safety of investigational COMP360 psilocybin treatment in anorexia nervosa. The other Topic Editors do not declare any conflicts of interest in relation to the Research Topic.

Are you interested in contributing a manuscript to this Research Topic?

Pathways to Mental Health Resilience in Emergency Personnel: Protective Strategies and Occupational Challenges