Maui’s continuing mental health crisis

It has been over two years since the devastating wildfires on Maui. While the physical destruction was immediate, the emotional toll is still unfolding, and the latest research reveals that the mental health crisis on Maui is even more severe than anticipated.

𝐓𝐰𝐨 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐣𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐉𝐀𝐌𝐀 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐚 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝...

▶️ 25% of fire survivors are experiencing moderate-to-severe anxiety, a rate more than ten times higher than before the fires

▶️ 50% of fire survivors are experiencing depressive symptoms such as insomnia, fatigue, and hopelessness, more than double pre-fire levels

▶️ Children have been hit hardest: nearly 50% show signs of PTSD, half meet the clinical threshold for depression, and 30% report significant anxiety symptoms including excessive worry, restlessness, and difficulty relaxing

🚩 Suicidal thoughts are four times higher than before the fires

🚩 In August 2023, the month of the fires, Maui recorded its highest combined suicide and overdose death rate in over a decade

❌ No data for the number of suicides or overdoses has been released for 2024 or 2025, hiding the true scale of Maui's mental health crisis

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐨𝐧!

Next month, the 𝐖𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐘𝐌𝐂𝐀 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 will have its grand opening in Lahaina and our nonprofit has partnered with the Y to help create a beautiful space for healing that uses nature and water to naturally calm the nervous system. If all goes well with the permitting process, we should be able to start providing 𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐄 𝐅𝐋𝐎𝐀𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐏𝐘 to all the fire survivors, first responders, and frontline workers on Maui later this year!

Our goal is to reduce the high level of stress and anxiety that the people of Maui are currently experiencing, and we are especially committed to helping all the older keiki and teens who are really struggling right now.

𝐖𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐦 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐚𝐮𝐢!

𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬:

Purtle et al., 2025: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2837350

Juarez et al., 2025: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2837319

Maui Wildfire Exposure study: https://uhero.hawaii.edu/from-crisis-to-recovery-health-and-resilience-two-years-after-the-maui-wildfires/

Mental Health data from the first year after the fire: https://www.mauicalm.org/post/maui-s-mental-health-crisis

Recent Guardian article on Maui’s mental health crisis: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/18/maui-wildfires-mental-health