Ukrainians had normal lives until just a few years ago. But that all changed when, for a few weeks, they saw one of the most dangerous forces in the world, led by a leader, surround their country with Russian troops.

When the full-scale attack started on February 24, their lives and the lives of their loved ones were directly threatened by this fear and doubt. When Ukrainian towns were struck, the first people to see the blasts and deaths were the townspeople. They had trouble getting food, water, and power right away, and they couldn't always talk to their loved ones. When their hard-won democracy and freedom are unfairly threatened, Ukrainians also feel a lot of anger and unfairness, and some of them feel like their friends don't back them.

A lot of studies show that going through something so hard can cause major problems like PTSD, sadness, and anxiety. PTSD causes scary and real flashbacks of war scenes, unwanted memories of trauma, panic attacks, sleeplessness, dreams, and a desire to avoid anything that reminds the person of the trauma.

After both natural and man-made tragedies, the number of people with these diseases goes up. For example, one-third of people in the United States who witness a mass killing may develop full-blown PTSD.
More than a million Ukrainians have moved to Poland and other Eastern European countries for safety reasons, leaving their homes, towns, and jobs behind. Many people have moved within their own country. As refugees, they have few means and don't know what the future holds. Constant worry is bad for mental health.
Studies have shown that between one-third and one-half of adult refugees have PTSD. In a study I led that came out in 2019, more than 40% of adult Syrian refugees who moved to the U.S. had a lot of worry, and almost half of them were depressed. Another 2019 study found that 27% of the 1.5 million Ukrainians who had to move because of the latest Russian attack and local uprising in eastern Ukraine in 2014 had PTSD, and 21% had depression.

Children are particularly at risk. Imagine how scary it would be for a child to be in a dark basement, looking at his parents' faces, and hoping that the next rocket won't hit his apartment building. Parents can do some things to keep their kids from getting hurt, but not much.

A study of Syrian and Iraqi refugees who had moved to Michigan found that about half of the children had very high levels of worry. Up to 70% of the refugee children who were asked after coming to the United States had separation anxiety. Most of the time, these kids are so scared that they can't leave their parents, even when they're no longer in immediate danger.

Trauma can also be passed down from parents to their present and future children through genetic changes that are small but permanent and through their parents' constant worry about having been in a war. So, pain can be passed down from one family to the next.

Trauma in childhood also makes it more likely that you will have physical and mental health problems as an adult, like sadness, PTSD, constant pain, heart disease, or diabetes.

Importantly, data from a study that hasn't been released yet shows that, especially in the case of war trauma, many people don't recover within three years if they don't get the right mental health care and help. PTSD doesn't happen to everyone who goes through a traumatic event. Who is most influenced depends on their genes, the help they get from their surroundings, their past experiences, how close they were to stress, and how bad it was. Some people get better, and some even get stronger and more mentally tough. But people can only handle bad things for so long.
People who put themselves in harm's way to save others
The police, firemen, dispatchers, and doctors see the worst results of war firsthand. They work long hours, both physically and mentally, and often see people die and suffer. At the same time, they care about their own families as much as anyone else.

 Research shows that between 15–25% of firemen and other first responders have PTSD when there is no war going on. Today, the first rescuers in Ukraine are much stronger. Even though they are on fire, they still have to help people who are hurt, put out fires in houses, and do their hard work. Veterans also go through terrible things, and between 12 and 30 percent of them have PTSD. Because Ukrainian troops didn't have enough security and didn't have enough ammo compared to the attacker, more people got hurt and died. This can make the effects of stress on their mental health even worse.

"The hardest thing for me is accepting that I am a refugee," a Ukrainian woman wrote on Instagram. "My family and my flat are both in Kiev. There is all of my life and work... My daughter and I went on a trip. I had nothing when I left. All of my child's papers, except for his visa and birth certificate, are in Ukraine. It's hard to accept.

But the Ukrainian people have a lot of strength and drive. She writes about how she and many other people who have fled are focused on going back home to clean up and start over. "I really, really want to go home." she writes.