'Our husbands didn't go to war for Ukraine so we can sit around crying'

Maria Ivashchenko’s hubby Pavlo volunteered to combat the precise aforesaid time Russia invaded Ukraine successful 2022.

Six months later, helium was killed arsenic Ukrainian forces went connected a counter-offensive successful the portion of Kherson – making Maria 1 of the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians who person mislaid loved ones successful the war.

To header with her grief, Maria has been attending therapy classes organised by a unpaid radical called Alive. True Love Stories.

In the sessions, the widows and mothers of fallen fighters explicit their feelings, and question solace and closure by painting. They past travel their paintings with written stories of their love.

Maria says that coating helps externalise and process memories and moments that radical tin beryllium acrophobic to re-live.

"There's full trust. No 1 volition justice you, whether you laughter oregon cry,” she adds. “They recognize you unconditionally. There's nary request to explicate anything.”

"There's a crushed wherefore it's called Alive. We came backmost to life. This task has pulled galore of america retired of the abyss."

The laminitis of Alive, Olena Sokalska, says much than 250 women person go progressive successful her task truthful far, and determination is simply a waiting database of astir 3,000.

Olena says that the paintings mostly picture scenes that punctual the women of the times they spent with their loved ones oregon of dreams they had. Some overgarment themselves oregon their husbands, Olena adds.

“Very often they overgarment angels, their families oregon children are depicted arsenic angels," she says. "These paintings people the extremity of the beingness they had and the opening of a caller life."

In summation to the trauma of bereavement, the dangers and insecurities of warfare person affected millions of Ukrainians.

Anna Stativka, a Ukrainian psychotherapist, explains that erstwhile wars commencement radical suffer information and stableness – basal quality needs.

“When these 2 basal resources are gone precise suddenly, this creates a batch of stress."

In situations wherever warfare is sustained, this tin besides crook chronic, with symptoms specified arsenic anxiety, depression, apathy, insomnia, deficiency of attraction and difficulties with memory.

"You can't enactment successful this hyper alert authorities for truthful long,” Ms Stativka says, adding that this has consequences connected people’s intelligence and carnal health.

“So this is mostly what is happening to Ukrainian society," she says.

Research and statistic suggest that the stock of Ukrainians who are experiencing intelligence wellness issues is huge, and it is growing.

According to the Ukrainian Health Ministry, the fig of patients complaining of intelligence wellness problems this twelvemonth has doubled since 2023, and marketplace probe information shows antidepressant income person jumped by astir 50% since 2021.

A survey published successful the aesculapian diary The Lancet suggests that 54% of Ukrainians (including refugees) person PTSD. Severe anxiousness is prevalent among 21%, and precocious levels of accent among 18%.

Another study carried retired successful 2023 showed that 27% of Ukrainians felt depressed oregon precise sad, up from 20% successful 2021, the twelvemonth earlier Russia's full-scale invasion.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that the bulk of Ukraine's colonisation whitethorn beryllium experiencing distress caused by war.

"It whitethorn person antithetic symptoms. Some consciousness sadness, immoderate consciousness anxiety, immoderate person difficulties with sleep, immoderate consciousness fatigue. Some are getting much angry. Some radical person unexplained somatic syndromes, beryllium it conscionable symptom oregon feeling bad," the WHO typical successful Ukraine, Jarno Habicht, told the BBC.

But, Mr Habicht says, Ukraine has made strides successful dealing with the acute situation and battling the Soviet-era stigma associated with intelligence health.

He says intelligence wellness was prioritised during the archetypal months of the war. “Ukraine started to speech astir intelligence health, and I deliberation that's thing unsocial which we person not seen successful galore places," Mr Habicht says.

Ukraine's archetypal woman Olena Zelenska spearheads a intelligence wellness run called How are you? and she besides held the Third Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen focusing connected intelligence wellness successful times of war. It was co-hosted by the British broadcaster, writer and intelligence wellness campaigner Stephen Fry.

In an interrogation with the BBC's Ukrainecast, Mr Fry described the intelligence wellness challenges facing Ukraine arsenic an "urgent crisis", but said helium was besides impressed by what Ukraine is doing to code it.

"It's bonzer to maine that successful Ukraine this is being talked about," Mr Fry said. "It is surely a spot of Ukraine. The time Russians commencement to speech astir the intelligence wellness of their soldiers and the crises amongst them volition beryllium the time that it's moved distant from immoderate of the totalitarian fearfulness successful which it seems to beryllium mired astatine the moment."

According to psychotherapist Anna Stativka, 1 of the ways successful which Ukrainian nine has responded to the trauma of warfare is by coming together.

She says that radical person mostly go overmuch much acceptable to assistance to each different and are overmuch much polite, adjacent successful nationalist places. “People speech to neighbours more. So galore are volunteering, donating, trying to assistance each other. This is simply a precise stabilising factor. We spot overmuch much spot towards each other, overmuch much empathy," she says.

Maria Ivashchenko is present raising 4 children connected her own. But she is smiling again, adjacent if done tears sometimes. He connection to those who are struggling with their nonaccomplishment is: "Don't beryllium acrophobic to speech to people. Get retired of your bubble. Don't beryllium alone.”

"The astir important happening is not to springiness up and not to deliberation that you're unsocial successful this world, oregon that cipher cares. Oh yes, they do," she says.

"Our husbands did not spell to warfare truthful that we tin beryllium astir crying, but truthful that we support moving on, truthful that we support living."

The interaction of this warfare volition beryllium felt by generations to come, but Ukrainians are moving hard to woody with the trauma now.