Photographs and Text by Nicole Tung
Nicole Tung visited several mental health treatment centers in Ukraine, and spent time with several soldiers suffering from the psychological harm of battle earlier this year.
Aug. 15, 2023
Night brings little sleep and terrifying dreams. Day brings panic attacks and flashbacks. All are exhausted and some think of suicide. They fear their own thoughts, and what those thoughts might drive them to do.
Vladyslav Ruziev, a 28-year-old Ukrainian sergeant, has recurring nightmares about his experience being pinned down with his unit last winter, powerless to do anything about the constant Russian artillery, the bitter freeze, the comrades he saw lose arms and legs. “Sometimes the ground was so thick with the wounded that the evacuation vehicles drove over their bodies by mistake in the chaos,” he said, recalling scenes he witnessed on the front earlier this year.
In a year and a half of war, many of Ukraine’s troops have had breaks totaling only about two weeks. And when they do get short respites away from the front, what many of them need most is treatment for psychological trauma.
That need is growing and far outstrips Ukraine’s ability to address it, as a New York Times journalist found in visits to institutions providing that care, and in interviews with soldiers, therapists and doctors.
Andriy Remezov knows that suffering all too well — after going in 2014 to fight the Russian proxy forces in the East, he returned home and went into a tailspin.
“I got addicted to drugs and alcohol, and even thought about suicide, but my comrades rescued me,” said Mr. Remezov, 34. He got treatment, became a psychologist and got married.
He rejoined the army last year. On a two-day trip to Kyiv, sipping coffee in his kitchen his wife, Marharyta Klyshkan, he explained that each time he leaves the front, he spends some quiet time mentally reviewing what he has endured “so I can put it on a shelf in my mind.” Otherwise, he said, “all this information can just destabilize me.”
Ukraine’s mental health system can handle only a fraction of the need, he said, and most soldiers make the mistake of trying to tough it out on their own, as he once did.
A handful of centers in Ukraine treat mental trauma with traditional psychotherapy and alternative treatments: electrical stimulation, time with animals, yoga, aquatic therapy and more.
At Lisova Polyana, a hospital near Kyiv, therapists use “biosuggestive therapy,” a mix of talk, music and touches to the head, chest, shoulders and arms. Even having barbers give haircuts can be therapeutic — a safe encounter with a stranger, giving a sense of routine and care.
The hospital treats soldiers with both psychological harm and physical wounds, including brain injuries like concussions. “This has become an epidemic now because Russian artillery is like rain,” said Ksenia Voznitsyna, the director. She added, “We also work with those who were tortured while in Russian…
2023-08-15 04:08:45
Post from www.nytimes.com
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