Ukrainian refugees in Poland get help for trauma you can’t see — mental health

Her mom, Liudmyla Bats, mentioned Yana could be very sturdy and mentioned she hopes that when her daughter tells her she is doing OK, she actually means it.

However sitting in her bathrobe after a welcome bathe on the Area Ursynów, a sports activities complicated now used to quickly home Ukrainian refugees, Bats talked about her personal trauma.

“Even right here, each time once I hear some sounds and when the airplane is flying, I am afraid,” she mentioned.

Bats and her youngsters are benefiting from the well-documented generosity of the Poles — shelter, meals, even a desk well-stocked with pencils and paper for Yana to make use of whereas attending digital college on her cellphone.

However much less identified is the assistance Polish leaders and personal organizations are offering Ukrainian refugees coping with what we won’t see: the psychological well being of the principally ladies and youngsters who crossed the border.

Greater than 2.5 million Ukrainian refugees have fled to Poland, and, in response to the Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, there are some 300,000 within the capital metropolis alone. He mentioned 100,000 are youngsters and already 15,000 Ukrainian refugees are enrolled in Polish colleges — some along with his personal youngsters.

“I speak to my children as a result of they attend Warsaw colleges with Ukrainian children. They are saying that these children are extremely resilient, however you by no means know what’s beneath the floor. And, in fact, this is without doubt one of the main issues. I imply, well being care — psychological well being,” the mayor mentioned.

Trzaskowski mentioned he has quickly directed most of the metropolis’s psychiatrists, psychologists and different psychological well being social companies to assist the Ukrainian refugees.

Non-public organizations are prioritizing the care too — leaving leaflets at practice stations for arriving refugees to see.

“We’re all traumatized, particularly after what we have seen previously days on tv. And a few of these children have been simply escaping bombs. A few of them have been seeing members of their household being killed. I imply, that is one thing that we have now issues imagining,” Trzaskowski mentioned. “We have now quite a lot of traumatized children in Warsaw who need assistance.”

“My buddies from Ukraine inform me that they will concentrate on preventing and rebuilding their nation as a result of we handle their households and their children,” he added, referring to the boys who stayed behind.

Not an afterthought

The emphasis on psychological well being is a really fashionable method to caring for battle refugees. It wasn’t that way back that it was an afterthought, if a thought in any respect.

At a Jewish Hillel Middle in downtown Warsaw, Milena Konovalova leads group remedy periods for refugee ladies. She lately fled Ukraine herself.

“Each lady wants one other lady who can hearken to her,” she mentioned. “Earlier than the battle in Ukraine, I labored as a ladies’s psychologist. I labored solely with ladies, and I perceive how vital it’s for girls to speak, to speak to different ladies.”

Konovalova will not be Jewish, however the Hillel Middle is one among many organizations opening their doorways for all Ukrainians with any form of want.

Throughout a current session, Konovalova and 5 different ladies sat round a desk lined with rose petals in what she calls a ladies’s circle.

The lyrics of the music “Be Your self” by Peruquois crammed the room as the ladies took turns lighting candles. Feelings rushed to the floor. Tears flowed as the ladies linked and shared their experiences.

Whereas the ladies talked, their youngsters performed in a makeshift day care middle on the opposite aspect of the room. A few of them have been too younger to grasp, pleased simply to be taking part in with toys and different youngsters.

However a few of them do perceive. Younger women like eight-year-old Antonina, who mentioned she is aware of that she’s in Poland due to the battle.

“As a result of Putin has one thing in his head,” she defined.

It seems not all grown-ups make good selections, we mentioned throughout our dialog.

“In relation to Putin, sure,” Antonina shot again.

The refugee youngsters, identical to youngsters in the US, have been already coping with psychological well being challenges from being remoted throughout nearly two years of the pandemic. Now, having left the nice and cozy comforts of residence, to not point out their fathers who stayed in Ukraine to battle, any transfer towards a pre-pandemic normalcy has been cruelly interrupted.

Their moms throughout the room are searching for emotional assist to assist themselves and put them in a greater place to handle their household’s wants and traumas.

“Once we speak to different ladies, we hear that we have now the identical issues, and once we see our scenario from a distance, we will clear up it,” defined Konovalova.

“Essentially the most outstanding trauma is that girls do not see tomorrow. They don’t seem to be certain, they doubt, they’re frightened or scared, they do not really feel protected anyplace,” she mentioned. “And it is vital to convey to them that there’s tomorrow, that they’re in a heat and protected place, that the youngsters can have porridge tomorrow, and she’s going to be capable to tuck him in, go for a stroll with the kid. It is vital to know that tomorrow will occur.”