Samopomich – psychological support to Ukraine

FGIP, together with the Czech National Institute for Mental Health and GIP-Tbilisi, has developed an on-line psychological aid program. The first Russian-language version, samopomoch, was developed in the fall of 2020 after the repressions started in Belarus. It provides advise to the general population via social media, resources for mental health professionals through a special website and provides free on-line consultations to Human Rights Defenders.

Since the war in Ukraine started, a similar program has been developed in Ukrainian. The platform provides guidance to both mental health professionals and the general population how to deal with the psychological consequences of the war. It advices how to maintain your mental health during times of crisis, what to do to combat e.g. panic, anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts and also where to go in case professional help is needed. A team of Ukrainian speaking psychotrauma experts are answering the many dozens of requests for help on a daily basis. With a growing team of experts we direct people to professional help in surrounding countries and are now setting up a support program for first responders who are facing burnout and the risk of secondary trauma.

The platform can be found via the following links:

facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Samopomich-100316465941232

Telegram: https://t.me/samopomic

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samopomo.ch

We also have a website with resources and information where people can turn for help: www.samopomi.ch

Since the start of our Ukrainian-language program on February 28 the Facebook channel had over fifty million views while the website had 225,000 users, most of them ostensibly mental health professionals

We also have channels in Russian, which can be accessed:

Интернет: www.samopomo.ch

Telegram: https://t.me/samopomoch

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/samopomoch

If you want to support our work, your donations are most welcome. You can make your donation here:

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The Federation Global Initiative on Psychiatry is involved in a variety of initiatives aimed at providing support to the Ukrainian population in general and psychiatric patients in particular. The foundation has established a platform for direct psychological support to Ukrainians consisting of a website with self-help information (www.samopomi.ch), various social media information channels and psychological assistance to the frontline workers, e.g. people in rescue services, ambulances, employees of hospitals and activists collecting evidence of war crimes. The facebook channel of the samopomich program has already had more than 50 million visitors. In Vilnius (Lithuania), FGIP has set up a crisis center for Ukrainian refugees with a professional staff consisting of Ukrainian specialists from Mariopol and Zhitomyr.

In addition, FGIP also provides direct material support to Ukrainian psychiatry. The foundation has now purchased eight large generators ranging from 32 to 120 kW, which can be used to provide electricity to entire psychiatric hospitals. These are delivered with priority to hospitals in greatest need, either because they are close to the front where electricity is only available for a few hours per day.

In addition, the foundation buys thermal underwear for patients as well as headlamps with which medical staff can walk their rounds in the wards in the evening and at night when there is no electricity. These lamps only cost 20-25 euros but make a world of difference.

To illustrate the situation, the foundation has produced a series of clips, including the following about a hospital in Chernigiv that was occupied for four weeks:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5p9Dweidvhs&t=9s

A summary clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AGNrcsRVW4&t=8s