Ukraine - Russia crisis and its impacts on the mental health of Ukrainian young people during the COVID-19 pandemic

Celine Chaaya; Vimala Devi Thambi; Özge Sabuncu; Reem Abedi; Awab Osman Ahmed Osman; Olivier Uwishema; Helen Onyeaka

doi:10.1016/j.amsu.2022.104033

Ukraine - Russia crisis and its impacts on the mental health of Ukrainian young people during the COVID-19 pandemic

Ann Med Surg (Lond). 2022 Jul:79:104033. doi: 10.1016/j.amsu.2022.104033. Epub 2022 Jun 23.

Authors

Celine Chaaya^{1

2}, Vimala Devi Thambi^{1

3}, Özge Sabuncu^{1

4}, Reem Abedi^{1

5}, Awab Osman Ahmed Osman^{1

6}, Olivier Uwishema^{1

7

8}, Helen Onyeaka⁹

Affiliations

¹ Oli Health Magazine Organization, Research and Education, Kigali, Rwanda.
² Faculty of Medicine, Saint-Joseph University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
³ Dr. NTR University of Health Sciences, Andhra Pradesh, India.
⁴ Faculty of Medicine, Yeditepe University, Istanbul, Turkey.
⁵ NRC, Faculty of Medicine, Lebanese University, Hadath, Lebanon.
⁶ Faculty of Medicine, Sudan University of Science and Technology, Khartoum, Sudan.
⁷ Clinton Global Initiative University, New York, USA.
⁸ Faculty of Medicine, Karadeniz Technical University, Trabzon, Turkey.
⁹ School of Chemical Engineering, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B152TT, UK.

Abstract

The Russia-Ukraine crisis has been at the center of international talks since early 2022. This conflict, bursting after the sanitary crisis of the covid 19 pandemic, creates an atmosphere of uncertainty and instability, which negatively impacts many aspects, including mental health. Young Ukrainians have been suffering from socio-political instability for decades, and the current war, together with the Covid 19 pandemic, shatters hopes of brighter days. This commentary covers the challenges facing the younger generation in Ukraine and the impact of this situation on their mental health.

Keywords: COVID-19; Conflict; Mental health; Russia-Ukraine; Ukraine-Russia.