Médecins Sans Frontières - Mental health in conflict

Unique Identifier Code / URN MSB105241

Date taken / Date Recorded 15/09/2021 12:00 AM

Country Ukraine

Commissioning section MSF-SWITZERLAND

Photographer / videographer / producer Lilia Rarog

Copyright Lilia Rarog/MSF

Usage Rights (MSF) External Media, MSF Fundraising, MSF Publications, Social Media

Formal Consent Copy available yes

Editor's rating ★★★★★ (C)

Video format h264 (Main) (avc1 / 0x31637661)

Duration 3m22s

Maximum Size 1920px × 1080px 349.78 MB

Additional Information / Shotlist TITLE: Donetsk Region, Ukraine

TITLE: Natalia Khatsko, MSF Health Promoter

After the conflict started people have become even more vulnerable. People would tell us different stories.

One person said that she still had the fear… when it’s windy and, let’s say, a bottle of water falls from the table loudly, she thinks that it’s an explosion and she starts recalling everything.

TITLE: Chermalyk Village
TITLE: Halyna Mohylevska, Family Doctor

Of course, everyone’s mental health was disordered. Since 2014 when everything stopped, I could say, the life stopped, the war started… We have been cut off the center, [Donetsk], and remained with our patients alone.

TOS:
Despite healthcare reforms, mental healthcare services are not yet available in villages.

TITLE: Oleksiy Litvinov, MSF Psychologist

Our healthcare system focuses on the treatment of only one health component – physical health. It’s very common [to think]: “Our parents handled it somehow... Our grandparents did it too.”

Even [some] doctors and nurses have this devaluating perception of psychology. They see it as: “You had a stomachache, I gave you a pill, and the pain resolved. I helped you for real.” “I don’t sleep. What can you do?” Or “I grieve for a close person. How can you help with it? Just with talking? I can talk to a friend in the evening, over a cup of tea.”

TOS:
MSF psychologists conduct consultations for patients in the villages of the Donetsk region, close to the contact line.

TITLE: Chermalyk Village
TITLE: Halyna Mohylevska, Family Doctor

An [MSF] psychologist works [in our village]. She always has patients, always.
If not for this, it would be unlikely for a person to go to Mariupol City to see a psychologist. On top of that, to a private psychologist. Our services are free of charge. Everybody is on a tight budget, people are vulnerable. Of course, it’s crucial for them to receive this help for free.

TITLE: Natalia Khatsko, MSF Health Promoter

What can be done? [Healthcare staff] could take trainings to learn the basics of psychological first aid in order to provide this aid in a better way.

TOS:
Family doctor Halyna Mohylevska participated in an MSF mental health training.

TITLE: Chermalyk Village
Halyna Mohylevska, Family Doctor
After taking the training, the nurse and I definitely become more empowered. Previously, we had worked by the light of nature, using our instincts and inner emotions.

TOS:
Many years of conflict in Ukraine has had a serious impact on people's mental health.
The Covid-19 pandemic has brought additional strain.

TOS:
In Donetsk Region, Ukraine, MSF works to support nurses and family doctors so that they can provide basic mental health services to people living close to the conflict.

Mental health in conflict - eastern Ukraine EN

Mental health in conflict - eastern Ukraine EN