Natural disasters have been occurring more frequently in recent years. Each disaster is different and varies in scale and features. The level of the scale, such as with floods confined to a single region, floods with many localized disasters, and the Great East Japan Earthquake, which was a complex disaster that included radiation disasters in addition to the natural disasters of earthquakes and tsunamis, can be determined.
 Public mental health and welfare support systems have been established in each region and may become temporarily vulnerable in the case of a disaster. In the acute phase, the Disaster Psychiatric Assistance Team (DPAT) may be called in to assist. Various other mental health and psychological support groups may also enter the affected areas to provide assistance.
 The administration of the affected area must consider how to most efficiently receive and support such assistance. In the case of a localized disaster, the affected area or prefecture may be able to handle the situation on its own and provide follow-up services starting with the initial stage and continuing through the medium- or long-term.
 In contrast, in the case of a major disaster across a wide area, if the existing administrative and medical care systems in the affected prefecture do not function in the early stages, it will become necessary to receive support from outside the prefecture.
 Recently, hospitals, psychiatric hospitals, and other mental health and welfare institutions have been required to prepare a business continuity plan (BCP). The BCPs of various locations collectively become the BCP for the region and can be used to determine the region's adeptness to withstand a disaster. Existing preparedness systems need to be developed to build a mental health and psychological support system for local and wide-ranging natural disasters that has sufficient capacity to respond to the rapidly increasing needs at the time of a disaster and to make assumptions and preparations to cope with future disasters.
 Author's abstract