30/11/2025
The Importance of Psychological Support: Why We Cannot Remain Silent
Full-scale war, constant shelling, forced displacement, loss of work and loved ones, financial instability – all of this has kept people in a state of chronic stress for years.
According to the mental health programme ‘How are you?’ conducted in collaboration with UNICEF, almost half of Ukrainians – 47% – have high or elevated levels of stress. At the same time, 20% of people have both high stress levels and low stress resistance – this is a group that is in particular need of additional support.
A survey by Gradus shows that 77% of people have recently experienced stress or severe nervousness. Among the main reasons are war, financial difficulties, the socio-political situation, and the state of their own health.
According to a clearly traceable trend, stress, exhaustion, burnout, and psychological fatigue are no longer the exception but the reality for the majority of the population.
The reasons for such mass exhaustion are complex, but they can be divided into several groups:
War and danger.
Economic pressure.
Social and informational stress.
All of this directly affects a person's ability to work, care for children and parents, make decisions, and even simply feel basic security. To see how psychological support can change lives, just look at one specific story.
Ms. Mariia (name changed) is a young and ambitious woman who, due to excessive stress, emotional burnout and overexertion, felt like a hostage to exhausting anxiety attacks. Her work, personal life and social life suffered from unpredictable waves of panic that could catch up with her at any moment. When Ms Mariia learned about the work of the mobile team of psychologists in the Kharkiv region, she immediately decided to seek help.
After attending several individual sessions, Mariia understood the physiology and psychology of anxiety, learned how the nervous system works during stress and what thoughts provoke attacks, and mastered the skills of quick self-calming and work with negative beliefs.
Thanks to the support of the mobile team's specialists, Mariia learned to independently identify situations that caused her excessive anxiety to turn into panic attacks.
Mariia's story is just one of many, but behind each such case is the painstaking work of specialists, which often remains ‘invisible’. However, it is this work that helps people not to break down under the weight of their experiences.
Today, almost everyone experiences stress, exhaustion or symptoms of mental disorders in one way or another. The war continues, and the psychological burden does not diminish. However, at the same time, people are increasingly willing to talk about their condition and seek help – and this is a powerful resource for our society.
Psychological support:
That is why it is so important that support services, mobile teams and counselling centres operate in every region – and that everyone knows that asking for help is a sign of strength, not weakness.
Mobile teams of psychologists are working as part of a project implemented by the Charitable Foundation "Angels of Salvation" in partnership with the CF "Right to Protection' and HIAS, with the support of the German Federal Government through the German Foreign Office.
According to the mental health programme ‘How are you?’ conducted in collaboration with UNICEF, almost half of Ukrainians – 47% – have high or elevated levels of stress. At the same time, 20% of people have both high stress levels and low stress resistance – this is a group that is in particular need of additional support.
A survey by Gradus shows that 77% of people have recently experienced stress or severe nervousness. Among the main reasons are war, financial difficulties, the socio-political situation, and the state of their own health.
According to a clearly traceable trend, stress, exhaustion, burnout, and psychological fatigue are no longer the exception but the reality for the majority of the population.
The reasons for such mass exhaustion are complex, but they can be divided into several groups:
War and danger.
- constant air raid sirens and shelling;
- experience of occupation, evacuation, loss of home;
- injuries, death of relatives or friends;
- uncertainty and fear for the future.
Economic pressure.
- loss of work or reduction in income;
- sharp rise in prices, the need to ‘survive’ rather than just ‘live’;
- constant feeling of instability.
Social and informational stress.
- a flow of disturbing news;
- feelings of guilt (‘I'm not doing enough,’ ‘someone else is worse off than me’), which prevent people from seeking help.
All of this directly affects a person's ability to work, care for children and parents, make decisions, and even simply feel basic security. To see how psychological support can change lives, just look at one specific story.
Ms. Mariia (name changed) is a young and ambitious woman who, due to excessive stress, emotional burnout and overexertion, felt like a hostage to exhausting anxiety attacks. Her work, personal life and social life suffered from unpredictable waves of panic that could catch up with her at any moment. When Ms Mariia learned about the work of the mobile team of psychologists in the Kharkiv region, she immediately decided to seek help.
After attending several individual sessions, Mariia understood the physiology and psychology of anxiety, learned how the nervous system works during stress and what thoughts provoke attacks, and mastered the skills of quick self-calming and work with negative beliefs.
Thanks to the support of the mobile team's specialists, Mariia learned to independently identify situations that caused her excessive anxiety to turn into panic attacks.
Mariia's story is just one of many, but behind each such case is the painstaking work of specialists, which often remains ‘invisible’. However, it is this work that helps people not to break down under the weight of their experiences.
Today, almost everyone experiences stress, exhaustion or symptoms of mental disorders in one way or another. The war continues, and the psychological burden does not diminish. However, at the same time, people are increasingly willing to talk about their condition and seek help – and this is a powerful resource for our society.
Psychological support:
- helps individuals cope with traumatic experiences;
- protects children and young people from the long-term effects of trauma;
- makes communities more resilient;
- brings us closer to rebuilding the country not only externally, but also internally.
That is why it is so important that support services, mobile teams and counselling centres operate in every region – and that everyone knows that asking for help is a sign of strength, not weakness.
Mobile teams of psychologists are working as part of a project implemented by the Charitable Foundation "Angels of Salvation" in partnership with the CF "Right to Protection' and HIAS, with the support of the German Federal Government through the German Foreign Office.
