Part Three | Ukraine Uses TV, Internet to Train People to Manage their Stress and Anxiety
The government has set up many projects intended to mitigate the effects of war on the psychosocial health of the population remaining in Ukraine. The projects range from interactive cellphone apps to websites and TV public service announcements.
With the support of international aid organizations and the World Health Organization, the Ukrainian government has set up many projects intended to mitigate the effects of the war on the psychosocial health of the population remaining in Ukraine. Most are under an umbrella organization called the National Program of Mental Health and Psychosocial Support headed by Olena Zelenska, the wife of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
This program claims to have trained some 60,000 specialists and comprises over a dozen projects ranging from interactive cellphone apps to websites and TV public service announcements. Here’s a look at two of them:
A cartoon series called How to Support Yourself offers tips on combatting stress and learning to live in a situation of war.
“Tell me honestly, how are you?” is a series of one-minute public service announcement starring Ukrainian personalities and TV hosts offering “self-help kits” for managing anxiety.
I am in a lot of pain. I cry. 
Today I saw an interview with a man… 
…whose wife, two children and two grandchildren were killed. 
Each of these tragedies leads to darkness inside and exhaustion. 
Each of these tragedies leads to darkness inside and exhaustion. 
Relax — then clench your fists, wait 7-10 seconds…then relax them for 15-20 seconds. 
Tense up the whole body for a few seconds — and relax again. 
Check to see if some muscles have remained tense. 
If some muscles have remained tense, work specifically on those. 
Now imagine a warm wave of relaxation slowly spreading throughout your body.
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Part Two | “Living under war tests the strength of the psyche and body”
An interview with Ukrainian psychologist Anna Katruk:
“People are living in a so-called napiv stabilizovanyy – “semi-stabilized” – environment: That’s the term I use to describe the situation of people living inside Ukraine but away from the front lines – people must withstand high levels of tension, uncertainty and exhaustion.”
Part One | ‘This Was Not a Dream’
War isn’t only about bombs, bullets and deaths on the battlefield. It is also about people away from the fighting, struggling to maintain a modicum of normalcy and hope in their daily lives. “We obviously became stronger, even though we are broken inside,” said multimedia artist Olha Spytsia.
