The silent war: PTSD in Ukraine: insights from other war-affected nations for treating intergenerational PTSD

Dear Editor,

Following Russia’s invasion in 2022, the Ukrainian sociopolitical landscape underwent a significant shift. The ensuing displacement of individuals from their homes directly affected over 17 million people¹. A significant fallout of this transformation has been the psychological distress manifesting in the population. Research indicates that roughly 9.6 million individuals in Ukraine are at risk of or are currently grappling with mental health disorders. An estimated 3.9 million people in this group are likely to present with moderate to severe symptoms¹.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an expected mental health sequela in conflict situations. Ukraine is no exception, with its most vulnerable groups exhibiting high PTSD prevalence rates². Past instances of sustained conflict, such as World War II, have demonstrated the long-term effects of PTSD in affected populations. For instance, a large segment of Jewish Holocaust survivors in Poland continued to display PTSD symptoms six decades post-incident³. This illustrates the potential for trauma to permeate generations, requiring robust measures to address its psychological impact.

Addressing the mental health crisis and potential transgenerational trauma warrants a nuanced approach. Lessons can be learned from the United State National Center for PTSD, which provides veteran-specific and civilian-specific programs. These include evidence-based treatments like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)⁴.

Community-centric healing initiatives could prove instrumental in the recovery process. The integration of traditional practices with evidence-based interventions, as seen in Sierra Leone’s Fambul Tok program, offers a viable model. This program incorporates ceremonies, storytelling, and community dialogue⁵. Similarly, projects like Bosnia and Herzegovina’s War Childhood Museum promote community resilience and foster networks of support, offering a space for affected children to share experiences⁶.

The successful mitigation of the mental health impact of war will hinge on the collaboration between mental health professionals, researchers, community leaders, and individuals who have firsthand experience of such trauma. This collective effort is crucial to delivering effective, culturally sensitive, and contextually appropriate support to affected communities.

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Sources of funding

No funding was received.

Author contribution

W.A.A. and F.T.A.: conceptualized and supervised; W.A.A., F.T.A., J.K.T., and T.F.: material preparation, data collection, and analysis; W.A.A., F.T.A., J.K.T., T.F., and T.A.: wrote the first draft of the manuscript. All authors contributed to the study’s conception and design and commented on previous versions of the manuscript. They all read and approved the final manuscript.

Conflicts of interest disclosure

There are no conflicts of interest.

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Guarantor

Favour Tope Adebusoye.

Data availability statement

Data availability is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analyzed in this study.

Provenance and peer review

Not commissioned, externally peer-reviewed.