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Ukraine war: 'A mental crisis will affect everyone'

A trauma psychologist explains the forms of PTSD (post traumatic stress syndrome) that her fellow Ukrainians are likely to experience and how their recovery could take years.

Harrowing testimonies from the innocent civilians caught up in President Putin's invasion of Ukraine reveal how ordinary lives have been turned into horror stories by the Russian bombardments. People trapped in the rubble of their homes, corpses left in the streets and tens of thousands forced to flee for their lives to unknown futures beyond Ukraine's borders.

Natalia Lomonosova knows what they're going through both personally and professionally, and how they might eventually recover. She's a Ukrainian psychologist with a special interest in trauma but also a refugee now after she and her daughter fled Kyiv to seek sanctuary in Germany. She says that everyone will be affected by their experiences in Ukraine, and treatment and recovery by therapy could take years to take effect. She describes PTSD (post traumatic stress syndrome) as a condition that disrupts every aspect of the lives of those affected, and that millions of people will experience these symptoms - the soldiers, civilians and children, and that many who left will experience a sense of loss and guilt.

"Despite being a psychologist, I began to experience a state of panic and horror."

Photo: A woman with her baby at Warsaw Central Station after arriving from Ukraine, March 2022 Credit: Getty Images

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6 minutes