Mental health needs are increasing while stigma remains a barrier to accessing care.
More than half of Ukraine's population is experiencing a deterioration of their mental health due to the war, such as sleep disorders, anxiety, and depression, according to a World Health Organization (WHO) study. As the war continues, a growing number of people have developed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following life-threatening events. Overcoming stigma is key to ensuring that people can benefit from specific PTSD treatment.
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) addresses the urgent need for psychological assistance among people affected by the war across various regions of Ukraine, focusing particularly on the most vulnerable groups: those still living near the front line; individuals who are directly exposed to the war, such as the severely wounded and their family members as well as internally displaced people; and people who have lost their families or loved ones.
PTSD patients have doubled since 2024
In Vinnytsia, central Ukraine, MSF runs a psychological support center dedicated to treating traumatic stress. At the center, doctors, psychiatrists, psychologists, and health promoters work with people suffering from PTSD linked to the war. To support recovery, the team provides both individual therapy sessions and group creative classes. The MSF team has seen a rise in the number of people seeking help for mental trauma in 2025.
“The number of patients receiving active treatment for PTSD at our center each month increased from 57 in January 2024 to 118 by the end of April 2025,” says Christine Mwongera, MSF medical coordinator.
In addition, MSF teams provide evidence-based treatments for war veterans (wounded or demobilized and back to civilian life) and their relatives and families, as well as for displaced people affected by the ongoing war. The center utilizes therapies such as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) to help patients process traumatic memories and alleviate symptoms of PTSD.
Responding to men’s mental health needs
MSF teams are witnessing a considerable need for mental health support, particularly among men in Ukraine. “The proportion of male patients among newly admitted individuals has grown," says Mwongera. "Many are veterans—people who lived and worked in conflict areas and now face challenges adapting to a relatively safer environment and rebuilding social connections. We also observe that many patients require systematic, long-term treatment.”
Many men, in particular, feel stigmatized and are reluctant to seek help. Stigma surrounding mental health remains a significant barrier to care in Ukraine—especially for men—and is rooted in long-standing cultural and historical attitudes. It can be particularly difficult for loved ones to support those trying to adapt socially after returning from war-affected areas. Often, people suffering from PTSD believe they can manage on their own, without medical help. This often-invisible illness can severely reduce quality of life and increase risky behavior, turning daily routines into a cycle of trauma, isolation, and physical exhaustion, worsening chronic health conditions.
After years of rehabilitation and consistent MSF psychological support, I feel more balanced and calmer. I’ve even applied for a new job, where I can work as a peer supporter—because I believe I’m ready to share my experience and help others on their recovery journey.
Oleksandr Zelenii, veteran
“I was sitting across from the therapist, and when he asked what was bothering me, I answered honestly: everything, including him,” says war veteran Oleksandr Zelenii. Seriously injured during a double explosion in Luhansk region, he now lives with a traumatic brain injury, sleep disorders, memory loss, and symptoms of PTSD including irritability, lack of motivation, and difficulty with social interactions.
“After years of rehabilitation and consistent MSF psychological support, I feel more balanced and calmer," Zelenii adds. "I’ve even applied for a new job, where I can work as a peer supporter—because I believe I’m ready to share my experience and help others on their recovery journey.”
Oleksii (left), a veteran of several wars—from the Soviet-Afghan conflict in the 1980s to the current war—has complex post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a result of the traumas accumulated over more than 40 years, along with serious physical and neurological after-effects. | Ukraine 2025 © Caroline Thirion
MSF in Ukraine
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, MSF has adapted activities to respond to the new challenges of the war. Our main areas of work in 2025 include an MSF ambulance service to transport people with serious injuries from frontline to safer areas; mobile clinics providing medical consultations necessary medicines to people living in frontline areas; early rehabilitation for seriously injured patients in the Cherkasy region; PTSD treatment and psychological assistance in the Vinnytsia region; and donations of medicines. In addition, our teams run mobile clinics in towns and villages in the Kherson, Donetsk, Mykolaiv, Dnipropetrovsk, and Kharkiv regions. We provide primary health care, mental health counseling, and psychoeducational services, as well as sexual and reproductive health care.