3/ Addiction often goes hand in hand with trauma.
β‘οΈ One man lost family trust because of drugs.
β‘οΈ Another uses them to βescape reality.β
β‘οΈ A third fears his aggression & trauma may return.
4/ Sessions end with a collective prayer β a shared wish for healing. Stays usually last 3 months. For soldiers, itβs often just a pause before being sent back to the front.
5/ Psychologists say silence & isolation weigh heavily. Many men hide behind toughness, while drugs numb the pain but block recovery.
6/ βThe war is not just military β itβs psychological,β says therapist Oleh.
Itβs designed to wear Ukrainians down, to erode their identity.
7/ Group therapy uses the βwitness methodβ: when patients see others making progress, they begin to believe they can too.
8/ Anton (22) & Pasha (37), both ex-addicts, support each other:
π¬ βYouβve already faced your problem, I see you moving forward.β
π¬ βHealing starts with ourselves, then with family & community.β
9/ The scale of trauma is staggering: 1 in 3 Ukrainians suffers from war-related PTSD. But treatment capacity is far below whatβs needed.
10/ #Ukraineβs war is also a war on the mind.
Healing is possible β but as long as violence continues, recovery is a battle of its own. βππ