MUMBAI :
Counsellors, psychiatrists, and self-help groups are setting up helplines and special sessions to help students fleeing war-torn Ukraine and their parents suffering from stress and anxiety.
Third-year medical student Sarthak Singh suffers from nightmares of being back on the Poland border. A student of Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical University in Ukraine, Singh is back home in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, but often cries at night. “When I am on the terrace, I end up crying. I have nightmares. My parents are encouraging me to talk and, if need be, I will seek help soon,” he said.
Tata Institute of Social Sciences has launched a helpline for Indian students in Ukraine and their parents. “The war came after two years of covid and anything unpredictable leads to stress. The first-year students are especially vulnerable. The students are in bunkers, their physiological parameters askew, and they will exhibit psychosomatic disorders before post-traumatic stress disorder sinks in,” said Jini K. Gopinath, chief psychology officer at YourDOST, an emotional well-being platform.
More than 17,400 students have been evacuated since Russia invaded Ukraine, but many of them will face severe anxiety and trauma, which will play out in the coming days.
“I expect the calls to start coming in very soon. There is already a spike in the number of my patients who are parents whose children are in European countries,” said Mumbai based counselling psychologist Ishita Pateria. Over the last few days, parents have been worried about their children’s safety as they try to escape the shelling and war in Ukraine.
There are cases where students who have escaped to neighbouring European countries and are feeling anxiety, fear and distress over their future plans. The families are showing psychosomatic disorders in the way of body pain,which show effects of the trauma of the last few weeks.
Kanika Agarwal, founder of healthcare platform Mindpeers, said there was a 48% spike in calls from students based in Germany, France, and the UK over the past two weeks. Mainly in the 18-30 age bracket, they pay about €6 for an hour-long video session.
Mindpeers has launched several audio self-help guides.
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