Authors : Constança Casas e Joana Andrade The war in Ukraine, set off on the 24 February 2022, has been dominating the daily news that are widely spread by televisions, newspapers, radios, and social media. Aside from the thousands of people that live in the area and are painfully affected by the war, many other citizens are also affected all over the world. Even those living in Portugal, who may feel that this is all distant, will not escape the stress caused by such an amount of information on the war and by the idea of constant threat that it implies. The continuous ‘barrage’ of information on the war generates an activation of emotions in everyone , which may have different types of impact and induce stress. Those who have already experienced traumatic situations in their lives, for instance, may suffer an activation, generated by the anxiety facing the events. The events or experiences potentially inducing stress are largely dependent on how we think and evaluate what is happening to us, the circumstances, and the environment we live in, on the significance and importance we give to the demands imposed on us. When an event is interpreted as catastrophic and threatening to human life, it has a potential trauma effect which can affect a whole community. We are talking about events such as: Those involving or evoking other life or physical integrity threatening events, for oneself and for others (for instance, a war or natural disasters); An extreme and witnessed threat of death (of family members or others, on a mass scale). These situations may evoke feelings of extreme horror and helplessness, which in turn may trigger traumatic consequences , such as: Physiologic hyper-reactivity; Flashbacks, re-experiencing of symptoms and intrusive memories; Intense psychologic suffering, when exposed to trigger events, reminding other traumatic episodes; Hyper-activation of symptoms, namely insomnia, nightmares, irritability /anger, difficulty concentrating and hypervigilance. For many people, these symptoms disappear in a few months, but for others, more vulnerable, they can persist for decades or be intermittent, with n egative effects on mental health . However, not everybody reacts with stress or psychologic suffering to potentially traumatic events. Scientific research in the area suggests the possibility of having a kind of personality resilient to stress , with protective characteristics, where there is a tendency towards optimism and self-confidence, associated with the perception of control over the events, or even attaching a meaning of challenge and personal growing to the stressful situations. It is frequent, before emotionally challenging situations such as war sceneries, to develop negative psychologic symptoms, with an intense psychologic suffering. What to do? If you have trouble sleeping, feel anxious, sad, less tolerant, and irritable, maybe you should seek professional help . To look for help does not make us weak, and dysfunctional stress can be controlled with psychologic strategies that have a positive impact in terms of life quality improvement. Dosing the daily information on war and sharing with others what we feel are, on the other hand, attitudes that can on their own mitigate the effects of stress. Apart from that, the general rules for the promotion of mental health apply: Be active and practice physical exercise; Maintain your routines, including sleeping at the usual time and a sufficient number of hours; Avoid alcohol and stimulants, such as coffee; Try to distract yourself: watch movies or TV series (not about war), go to the theatre and cinema, or attend sporting competitions, for instance. Meet the psychiatry and psychology clinical teams from Hospital da Luz network and book your consultation. The content published in the Health Guide is intended for the general public and is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It does not replace individual medical assessment, diagnosis, or personalized clinical advice from a qualified healthcare professional. The content is produced or reviewed by physicians and other healthcare professionals at Hospital da Luz and is based on the knowledge available at the time of publication or the most recent update, as indicated at the beginning of each item.
