Mental Health Needs Rise as War Continues in Ukraine

Mental Health Needs Rise as War Continues in Ukraine

Sitting in a restaurant in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, 20-year-old Nastya took slow, deep breaths to calm herself. Her neighborhood had just been bombed again, as the war with Russia continues.

She had visited a local psychiatric hospital that morning to get mental health care. That hospital itself had been hit by a missile last September.

"After today's shelling, I could no longer cope with anxiety, the feeling of constant danger," the speech therapy student said. Nastya would only identify herself with her given name when she sought mental health care. There is traditional prejudice against people with mental health problems in some areas of Ukraine.

Experts say there are hundreds of thousands of people like Nastya in Ukraine. And they say, as the war continues so will the rise in the number of people seeking mental health care.

In December, The World Health Organization (WHO) reported about countries that have experienced conflict in the past ten years. It said that one in five people in those countries will experience a mental health problem. The report says an estimated 9.6 million people in Ukraine could be affected¹.

Russia's invasion in February 2022 forced millions of people to flee their homes. Others took shelter underground for months to try to protect themselves from shelling.

For Nastya, as for so many, the war changed everything overnight. "You woke up with the feeling that you are just surrounded by horrors, anxieties, surrounded by constant air raid sirens, flying planes, helicopters," she said. "You're simply in a closed circle which is not filled with the happy times of before, but with great fear."

Increasing demand for treatment

The need for mental health treatment has greatly increased across Ukraine, health professionals say, even as they deal with the effects of war on their own lives.

"The demand is huge," said psychotherapist Pavlo Horbenko. Since 2014, Horbenko has been treating people affected by war at a health center in Ukraine's capital, Kyiv. In 2014, Russia seized control of Crimea and set up Russian-allied states in eastern Ukraine.

He noted² a large increase in patients seeking treatment for sexual violence, loss of loved ones, and suicidal thoughts. "Previously³, it was one or two requests a week, and now there can be 10 a day."

He added that the need for mental health treatment increases after a war. Sometimes the signs of mental health problems appear as calm and order begin to return to life in a former war zone.

Horbenko said Ukraine needs more mental health care specialists.

Health care workers also affected

Lebanese psychiatrist⁴ Maya Bizri recently visited Ukraine as part of a program run by the medical aid organization MedGlobal. She came to train doctors and nurses to notice mental health issues in both health care workers and patients.

"If you want a health care system that is resilient, you have to take care of your own people," Bizri said.

Dr. Ludmyla Sevastianova is the psychiatric hospital director in Kramatorsk, in Ukraine's eastern Donbas area.

The war "affects us just as much as it affects patients," she said. "We are also worried about our families, our relatives and friends. But we are doing our medical duty, we are helping⁵."

Sevastianova, a psychiatrist, has made it her mission "to save the hospital in order to keep people working, to save the hospital so it can provide care to patients. This is the goal and it helps."

However, she knows the war will have long-term effects.

"Things do not pass without a trace. I cut my hand, a scar remains⁶. So it is with our psyche," Sevastianova said.

Words in This Story

anxiety -n. a feeling of worry or nervousness

constant -adj. continuous, without stopping

therapy -n. treatment for a physical or mental health problem

siren -n. a loud alarm used to warn of danger or urgent needs

psychiatrist -n. a doctor who specializes in mental health

resilient -adj. not easily weakened or damaged

trace -n. a mark or sign left by the passage of some person or thing

1 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

2 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

3 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

4 psychiatrist   

n.精神病专家；精神病医师

参考例句：

• He went to a psychiatrist about his compulsive gambling.他去看精神科医生治疗不能自拔的赌瘾。
• The psychiatrist corrected him gently.精神病医师彬彬有礼地纠正他。

5 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

6 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。