Dr. Oleh Berezyuk, who conducts the daily patrol, admits to trying hard to downplay February 24th as just another day.
A psychiatrist and psychotherapist, he didn’t want to look gloomy or be overly reflective about the one-year anniversary of Russia’s unilateral invasion of Ukraine. He didn’t want to further disrupt the mental state of patients suffering from PTSD and other stress-related conditions.
The air raid sirens had not yet been heard.
“So far we have not counted them. Berezuk, director of the first of its kind mental health center in Lviv, said: “(The sirens are It’s part of our lives now. We know how to react. Today is a peaceful day – for now.”
As the war enters its second year, the 5-month-old center explains how Ukraine is making mental health a priority in the big picture in the midst of a deadly conflict that has the world watching. indicates whether
For Berezyuk, work is personal.
He visited the room of a soldier who had suffered a traumatic brain injury after at least 15 concussions since the Russian invasion. increase.
About a third of the center’s patients have joined the Ukrainian army, Brezyuk said. Physicians must pause, take a deep breath, and know that their team of fellow physicians must continue the work of healing their patients’ minds.
“We are doing our job, no more, no less,” said Mr. Brejuk. “We have adapted to war and the challenges that come with it.”
Ukrainian happiness in the spotlight
according to world health organizationIt is estimated that one in five people (22%) living in conflict-affected areas in a decade has some form of mental health condition, including mild depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder and psychosis. increase. Regarding the Ukrainian conflict, WHO estimates that as many as 9.6 million people may have mental health problemsof which 3.9 million may have moderate or severe needs.
The well-being of Ukrainians is the focus of Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska, who is working to create it in collaboration with WHO. Mental Health and Psychosocial Roadmap With input from over 1,000 experts around the world, she helps strengthen mental health systems in her country.
Last month, Dr. Hans-Henri P. Kluge, WHO’s Regional Director for Europe, said: murmured Zelenska summarized the situation in Ukraine as follows. “Everyone in society must become a psychologist.” Kludge said the ongoing war “has put a huge toll on the mental health and well-being of all Ukrainians, and it’s important that we start addressing this now.”
These sentiments are shared by Lviv’s Berezuk and other local leaders. Population about 700,000 Once considered a safe haven, it is now a frequent target for Russian forces.
“It’s very important for us to have such solid support,” said Berezyuk. “But we can’t do it alone. We need help.”
Ukrainian mental health center ‘not a makeshift operation’
Officially known as the Lviv Center for Mental Health, the 5,000-square-foot renovated space offers free or low-cost services from about a dozen professional psychotherapists and psychiatrists. The goal is to treat wounded Ukrainian soldiers and locals suffering from war-induced PTSD and other stress-related conditions.
“This is not a quick fix,” says JustAnswer founder and CEO Andy Kurtzig told USA TODAY. Most of the money for building a mental health center in Lviv came from Kurzig and his wife Sarah’s non-profit organization. Arizae Foundation.
He predicts that mental health centers will conduct more than 40,000 consultations in 2023.
Housed in a reconstructed building, a mental health center and Rehabilitation centers sharing the same space Adjacent to the Lviv Emergency Municipal Hospital, which previously served as a general clinic for non-urgent care.
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Mental health centers in Lviv receive funding from both the local government and the private sector. Lviv IT clusterA local trading organization known for its philanthropic activities, Berejuk said. The center has 15 rooms for individual and group therapy sessions.
Many patients arrive by train from eastern Ukraine, where much of the war’s hostilities take place, and Berezyuk added that Thursday, Friday and Saturday are usually big days for hospitalization of patients. His team set out to ensure that patients see a psychotherapist or psychiatrist, usually within a day of arrival.
Wartime service provision
The existence of mental health centers Minister of Health of Ukraine Viktor Lyashko recently said more than 1,200 medical facilities across the country have been damaged because of the war.
This includes 540 partially destroyed and 173 completely destroyed hospitals, Liashko told the media. ukriform.
The health minister also said the World Bank and WHO estimated the damage to Ukraine’s health system at tens of billions of dollars. The latest figure they released in September was about $26 billion.
Liashko said restoring some of these structures to their pre-pandemic condition could cost more than $1 billion.
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Berezyuk told USA TODAY that mental health centers have become a “life-saving tool” for more than a third of patients. that A soldier who suffers from depression, PTSD, anxiety, and psychosomatic illness.
Brejuk, Former Ukrainian politicianhopes the center will be equipped with more advanced psychotherapeutic tools for cognitive-behavioral therapy, EMDR, long-term exposure therapy, body-oriented therapy, art therapy, and psychodynamic therapy.
He also wants to bring more staff on board.
“To help those who work in the difficult conditions of war and who have severe reactions to war trauma, we will pay more attention to the health of our center employees to prevent the development of secondary PTSD and burnout. is needed.
Expert: Ukraine rarely upgrades mental health system during war
He said the fact that Ukraine is taking steps to strengthen its mental health system in multiple ways during the ongoing war is rare. Michelle EngelsMental Health and Psychosocial Support Advisor international medical corpsa humanitarian group providing medical and mental health services in Ukraine.
“It’s very ambitious because it’s something you rarely see in active conflicts,” Engels said.
Engels is a clinical psychologist and currently leads a Kiev-based team of psychologists and social workers helping Ukrainians cope with the war. Her organization also partners with the country’s Ministry of Health to provide mobile mental health training to local first responders and non-health professionals.
This could include assisting traumatized residents with stress management techniques and breathing exercises that “help calm them in the midst of chaos,” Engels said. .
Said mental health resources needed across Ukraine Abraham FlaxmanProfessor of Global Health at the University of Washington.
“In some respects, you can’t really call Ukrainians experiencing post-traumatic stress because they are in the midst of this ongoing stress.” Latest War-Related Mental Health Statistics for WHO.
Engels said her organization typically moves from region to region, but she appreciates that Lviv’s mental health center can also provide access to Ukrainians navigating an overwhelming environment. She said a similar mental health center opened in Bucha city near Kiev in August, also with government support.
Engels, who has had a 20-year career in mental health response missions in other war-torn countries such as Iraq, Turkey and Syria, said, “There is a unique momentum to see this kind of community-based care here. There is.” “This is not something you see in every country.”
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While not comparable to other countries suffering, Ukraine’s mental health crisis also has a cause. United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights OfficeMore than 8,000 civilians have been killed and more than 13,000 injured since Russia invaded Ukraine a year ago.
Engels said it was unfair to compare Ukraine’s mental health strategy to other war-torn environments.
“I don’t think you can really do it. Atrocities are atrocities because there is so much human rights abuse, trauma and terrorism in other countries where I have worked,” Engels said. Ukraine is no exception.”
“Our mental health will be part of our survival”
Berezyuk said that since Lviv’s mental health center opened in October, at least four small community clinics have also opened in the city.
“Community is the most important part of the healing process,” Berezuk said.
Flaxman, a professor of health studies at the University of Washington, applauds Berezuk, Kurtzig, and many others for devoting resources to the “underappreciated and overlooked” health field.
“This is the most dire situation,” Flaxman said. “Therefore, all resources – public, private and charitable – will be valuable to Ukraine for many years to come.”
Berezyuk hopes so. “War will make us stronger, we will survive and we will win. Our mental health will be part of our survival.”
