By Fiona Vitija
Over the last month, the devastating events that have been happening in Ukraine have flooded into many of our lives. Unlike any other war before, it’s the first time that we can see in detail how these devastating events unfold live, just form watching the little screens in our pockets.
Ukraine has had to deal with Russian tension since the Cold War, where as a Soviet republic they fell victim to Russian leaders obsession with power, control, and hunger for their land, always being unfortunate victims of their foul play.
Yet what makes this war and attack more outrageous than any before is due to the “modern” period we live in today. Cities across Ukraine have fallen victims to mass air raids and military transgressions, to the point where they are no longer recognisable.
Over 10 million people have fled the comfort of their homes in Ukraine, fleeing either abroad or to safer cities within their borders, according to the UNHCR. And 4.3 million Ukrainian children have been displaced, not knowing when they will ever be able to go back home.
Impact on children
The psychological impact that war can have on people has been studied since the first World War. It’s no surprise to find that war adversely affects combatants and non-combatants alike, both physically and emotionally. More recent studies, however, have truly delved into the impact that these horrific events have on the development of children.
Many of us are unaware of the importance the first few years of a child’s life play on the development of their brains. It’s when the brain is a sponge and anything from facial expressions, emotions, noises, environment, and events affect their psyche in how they respond/ react to things.
These events truly set up the foundation for who they will become as adults, which in the long run will affect their relationships, habits, and everyday tendencies.
Isabella Lloyd, a current master’s student and Roehampton University student studying Art- Psychotherapy, has started working within the child therapy region. She says: “Ages 0 to 8 are the most important time for brain development. Although there is not an age where trauma does not occur, it is between those ages when the brain is at its peak development any trauma within this age group is especially venerable to serious effects. This is still not to say however that children of any age can’t be severely impacted by war trauma.”
And it’s not just them having to deal with the results of war. Pregnant mothers who undergo the stress of war while carrying their babies risk passing down illnesses to their children.
Lloyd points out: “As a child is growing inside a mother’s womb their brains are also at a key point of development. Therefore, if a mother gets stress and cortisol in her brain is realised it will also be directly released into the womb where it will slow down and prevent normal brain development…
“This can then affect the child when it is born as the brain has not had the opportunity to grow which can lead to the child having mental health issues as a result.”
Phycologists such as Salman Elbedour, Robertten Bensel and David T.Bastien have studied closely the effects that war can have on a child’s development and perception of the world. They refer to hopeless children and families caught in the experience of war as the “collaterally damaged’ population.
It can’t be ignored that war trauma leads to long-term consequences on the psyche of children and, that the more prolonged the conflict, the more serve the symptoms are.
Two factors affect children when it comes to war which exposes them to two types of traumatic events: type I (sudden traumatic event) and type II (protracted exposure to adverse events resulting in dysfunctional coping mechanisms). When exposed to war, children have been found to display depression, PTSD, depersonalization, dissociative disorders, behavioural disorders and even alcohol and substance abuse later on in life.
Erisa Kika, a 29-year-old woman living in Pristina, the capital of Kosovo, was there when the city went under attack by Serbia in 1998 over racial and ethical issues.
“Although I was very young I remember being so scared to go to sleep every night. I asked my mother to stack blankets on me to protect me from the bombs,” she said.
“I was petrified for my family; we all tried to stay together and protect each other”… “I remember my older male cousin seeing tanks come to where we were hiding and, him wetting himself from fear. It’s not something anyone should experience let alone a child.
“A lot of my family faced immense trauma from the war, some still can’t talk about it. The cousin I mentioned earlier in adult life became very addicted to drugs and alcohol as a way of dealing with what happened… a lot of my family still can’t talk about the events they went through many of us forget as a way of trying to move forward.”
The effect on children after the war
While children experience the cries of their mothers and father, other traumatic events such as hearing air raid sirens and bombings and fleeing warzones, not to mention sometimes watching their loved ones die, play a large factor in their mental health. Research has also found that a large extent of the war trauma also falls in the aftermath and whether the reconstruction of the country has been successful and whether the socioeconomic status has improved.
For many, returning home after a war isn’t exactly what they dream of. Their homes have been tarnished and completely ruined. Many have to rebuild their lives, neighbourhoods and countries from scratch resulting in unhabitual conditions for the majority of people for years. Children’s safe spaces have been destroyed.
If a country can’t rebuild itself it shows children that recovery is not possible. Being a bad role model to them as it shows them that recovery is not possible, having them yearn for a better life constantly.
What does this mean for the children of Ukraine?
While the UN and NATO have emphasised the importance of helping children and mothers move out of the war zone trying to rehouse them, there seems to be a lack of thought given to what will happen to these children after?
Taking children out of the situation is 100% necessary who is going to help these children, parents and people get their lives together after? There hasn’t been much physical support in Ukraine regarding soldiers so who’s to say there will be much help after.
It’s vital that they get the psychological help support they deserve. It’s times like that where communication, art, and therapy really help people process and understand the events they have experienced. The younger they are when receiving the help they need, the better they can heal and live life the way they deserve to; not tormented by their experiences.
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