PravdaMainForum... (Ukraine Today)
August 15 (UT) - About 136 suicides have been reported since the beginning of the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) in east Ukraine, according to a source in the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, Ukrainian news agency TSN reported.
However, the problem of suicide and depression among Ukrainian soldiers has not been officially commented.
At the same time, volunteer services, currently dealing with soldiers, sound the alarm, because no relevant activity on psychological diagnostics and rehabilitation of the soldiers has been sufficiently carried out. Even more, Ukraine does not have an established mechanism of psychological assistance provision, so this issue is most often tackled by volunteers.
In most countries, soldiers are not sent home directly after their return from combat zones. For example, the military in France are sent to Cyprus on holiday. While in Ukraine, such people are often left alone to deal with emotional effects of war.
Svitlana Kaminska, the psychologist at Psychological Crisis Service, gives recommendations to families when service members return home.
“First of all, it is to be near them. To sit down and listen to this person. Invite a priest, when he [serviceman] returns home and he is a religious person. A lot of information is available online,” she said.
Experts note that assistance of mental health professionals provided in due time can prevent the irretrievable act.