‘The nation as a whole will need support’

Ms Mazhbits, you are currently working at the Berlin Charité for the Solomiya Hospital Partnership project. How did this come about?

I left Ukraine in March 2022 with my two sons and our dog and initially stayed in a refugee hotel in Frankfurt. I began volunteering for the Solomiya project that very month. In June I moved to Berlin to work for the programme at the Charité. I am very glad to be able to support my country in this way.

What did you do before the war?

I was last working as an adult psychiatrist and psychotherapist at private hospitals in Kyiv and advised the International Organization for Migration, the IOM. I also worked as a senior researcher at the Institute of Psychiatry in Kyiv.

What is the situation like for the care of mentally ill patients in Ukraine now that almost a year has passed since the Russian invasion?

Basic medical care has been severely disrupted by the war. Many hospitals have been destroyed or damaged. There is a shortage of staff and medications. The same applies to psychiatric hospitals: they are over capacity, with many patients forcibly evacuated due to the war. Yet psychological assistance is more important at this time than ever. People don’t know what to expect the next day. They are worried about relatives, and many have lost everything. As a result, psychoses, stress disorders and other severe mental illnesses have increased.

How would you describe the mental health of people in Ukraine before the war?

As in any other society, there were people in Ukraine who suffered from depression or anxiety. Since the outbreak of hostilities in 2014, the number of such illnesses has risen. Generally, however, we led a normal life and did not think about war.