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Mental health of Ukrainians in the context of the first anniversary of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia
February 2022.
They say it is still ongoing, and it will end when my country's victory is announced, and real spring - the season of revival and peace - finally begins. When the world around us is too unstable, we have to pause, slow down, and switch to an energy-saving mode. This helps to preserve ourselves and survive. When the instability lasts too long, the adaptation process does its job, and we switch to the activity phase under stressful conditions. However, stress is regular, its effects accumulate, and the overall level of tension does not disappear - it is at such moments that you should start taking care of your mental health, if you haven't already, instead of continuing to run even faster at the expense of your health, competing with the unknown.
I am writing this on the eve of the first anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It is scary to remember the morning of 24 February 2022. It's scary to realise how long the war has been going on and the losses it has caused. It is scary to realise that the war will continue. It's scary, but it's possible. Ukrainians are strong, it's true. Hardy, strong, unbreakable. However, this strength comes at a high price - and that is why it is so important to talk not only about strength here and now, but also about how to preserve this resource in the future and transform traumatic experiences into growth.
Humanity traumatises itself with a terrifying cyclicity and systematicity. Country against country, community against community, person against person. It seems to be an integral part of human history. It's as if each successive generation needs to drain the volume of aggression that has accumulated over time. After the horrors of the Second World War, the Holocaust, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki (all within 12 years, from 1933 to 1945 inclusive), the slogan «Never again!» seemed to be expected, humane, and the only right one. But reality proves that while for one part of humanity such events and their consequences are unacceptable and threatening, for others they serve as a source of reversible inspiration, which later develops into a new war, destruction or social deviation.
For Freud and his followers, everything is clear here: the lack of possibility (and sense) for such people to cope with their impulses to destruction and death drive explains the term «tanatos», which covers the concepts of mortido (the urge to self-destruct) and destrudo (the urge to aggress and kill others). However, in contrast to such impulses, in difficult times, the forces of libido - creative energy aimed at creation, pleasure, prolongation of life (yes, the concept of libido is much broader).
In the mythological context, in the context of the fairy tales we were told as children, these are the forces of good and evil, but in adult life they are not somewhere outside, among the sorcerers or gods of Olympus, but inside the person. So, if humanity traumatises itself systematically, and the forces of good and evil are within the individual, how can we move forward and grow after a traumatic experience?
Mental health is the foundation for growth, and the important building blocks are acknowledging traumatic experiences rather than trying to hide from them or deny them. Mental health is about telling ourselves and the world: «Yes, it was painful, it was difficult, it still hurts, but that's why I'm moving on and will do everything in my power to make sure that this experience remains in the past, and if it does shape my future, it will only be a part of history, not a reason for me to stop.» This is exactly what Ukrainians have been doing for a year now. We have learnt, and this is our strength. We will face many new stages and challenges before and after the Victory, so taking care of our mental health will remain a top priority.
The mental health of Ukrainians is the basis for the country's further development. It is about the future, the next generations and the creation of a new history. It is not for nothing that the spring issue of the magazine is dedicated to mental health - it is where every revival begins!
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