Editor’s Note: This article is a part of the “Journalism of Tolerance” project by the Kyiv Post and its affiliated non-profit organization, the Media Development Foundation. The project covers challenges faced by sexual, ethnic and other minorities in Ukraine, as well as people with physical disabilities and those living in poverty. This project is made possible by the support of the American people through the U. S. Agency for International Development and Internews. Content is independent of the donors.
One morning, Katia Pankiv couldn’t get out of bed.
The young woman had a small child, a rewarding job and was in a happy relationship, but she suddenly felt she had no strength to get up and start her day.
After she realized it was because she had depression, she had to go through six months of medical treatment and a year of therapy.
Depression is a little understood illness, so along with thousands of people all over the world, this fall Pankiv, 25, took part in a flash mob called #FaceOfDepression and shared her personal story on Facebook.
The flash mob was started by Talinda Bennington, the wife of rock group Linkin Park’s frontman Chester Bennington, who committed a suicide in July. The widow shared a playful family video of her husband and son, filmed 36 hours before his death, saying “this is what depression looked like to us.” People all over the world supported Bennington, shared their personal pictures, and confessed to looking happy while feeling depressed.
The United Nation’s World Health Organization reported this year that more than 300 million people in the world are affected by depression today. Even in high-income countries, nearly 50 percent of people with depression don’t go for treatment.
In Ukraine, lingering economic crisis and the ongoing war with Russia are fueling an increase in cases of depression. According to the latest research by the World Health Organization, 6.3 percent of Ukrainians, or over 2.6 million people, suffer from depression.
Still, in Ukraine the disease is still not properly recognized for what it is.
Pankiv says that she couldn’t admit that she had a depression and found numerous excuses instead.
“Depression is a disease when your brain can’t think positively,” she told the Kyiv Post.
Pankiv says she didn’t tell her family for a while because “it was uncomfortable and embarrassing.”
She says that admitting to having a depression takes strength, especially in the country with “no support and tolerance.”
“It’s not for the faint-hearted,” she added.
Symptoms and causes
The symptoms of depression include a decrease in activity and energy, as well as apathy and a loss of interest in regular activities. It is often accompanied by fatigue, a feeling of loneliness, poor sleep, changes in appetite, and bad moods.
Yulia Tkachenko, a psychologist and therapist, says that depression can also cause some external signs such as slow movement, poor attention span, and forgetfulness.
Tkachenko says that the critical point in depression is when people start thinking about harming themselves. At its worst, depression can lead to suicide.
Serhii Bohdanov, a Ph.D. of psychology and professor at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, says that unlike in the case of many other illnesses, there is no single cause of depression.
He says that it is the result of a mix of neurobiological factors, such as an imbalance in the stress hormones norepinephrine and serotonin, and psychosocial factors, such as a mental trauma caused by loss of loved ones, an abrupt change in residence, the loss of social status and chronic fatigue.
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Fighting depression
Tkachenko says that the most important step in fighting depression is realizing that there is a problem and it can be solved.
She says that all people with depression feel uncomfortable, and that’s why starting to seek help is a big step.
Bohdanov says that the various causes of depression require different treatments. An imbalance of stress hormones should be treated medically, while psychological traumas require therapy.
Tkachenko says that the need for medical treatment usually scares people. But there are a few things that people with depression can try doing for themselves, according to her.
One of such things is paying attention to those moments when their mood deteriorates, and to try to understand what trigger for this was.
However, Tkachenko says it is better to do this during therapy.
Apart from that, she says that people who are supported and receive understanding from family and friends overcome the illness more quickly and easily.
Depression in Ukraine
Depression is one of the most common problems that people present to Tkachenko, she says.
According to the latest research by the World Health Organization, 6.3 percent of Ukrainians, which is over 2.6 million people, suffer from depression.
However, Bohdanov says that the percentage among Ukrainian refugees from Crimea and Donbas is much bigger – around 17 percent, which, according to the Ministry of Social Policy, is more than 303,000 people.
Nevertheless, many still don’t understand depression.
Bohdanov says that Ukrainians either take it as a bad mood and try to overcome it by themselves, or think that it’s a severe mental illness and are afraid to get help. Both opinions are mistaken, he says.
“Anybody can have a depression and will need professional help.”
Tkachenko believes that the reason for that might be Ukrainians’ lingering Soviet attitudes, when mental illness was stigmatized.
She says that the level of mental health education in the country is low.
“There is not enough information telling people it won’t last forever, it can be treated, and a lot of people face it. Every fifth-sixth person suffers from depression at least once in their life.”
How to change it?
Fighting depression in Ukraine will require changes at many different levels.
Bohdanov says that it’s important to educate the population and give accurate information about the illness, as this “will contribute to the normalization of perceptions and the formation of normal attitudes to mental health.”
Tkachenko believes that running social projects in hospitals, schools and universities is one option, while, Bohdanov emphasizes that mental health services must be as affordable as possible, especially in small towns and villages where it is difficult to find a specialist to help.
Bohdanov hopes that the coming health care reform will address many other issues in the mental health field – improving specialists’ qualifications, compiling a list of qualified psychologists and psychotherapists, the providing of free treatment by the government, and including depression among the official list of diseases.
Pankiv, who feels better now but continues seeing a therapist, believes that Ukrainians have to change their social attitudes, and this is the right time of the year to do it, as feelings of loneliness and depression get worse in the winter and during the holidays.
