Survey shows over 90% of Ukrainians haven’t sought psychological support over two years of war

The Rakuten Viber team asked Ukrainian citizens if they had sought psychological support since the start of the full-scale invasion. 

Over 90% of respondents said they hadn't used such services, Rubryka reports.

Rakuten Viber conducted a survey to find out if Ukrainians had sought psychological help in the past two years. Over 60,000 users participated in the survey on the official Rakuten Viber Ukraine channel.

The survey results showed that only 9% of Ukrainians had sought psychological help: 6% said it helped them, while the other 3% didn't feel relieved. Another 6% of respondents plan to seek help in the future.

However, the vast majority of respondents did not seek and do not plan to seek help from specialists: 39% of them don't feel the need, while another 11% said it's too expensive. 22% of Ukrainians dealt with emotional stress on their own without involving specialists. The rest of the respondents (13%) don't believe in the benefits of such consultations overall.

The responses to the question "Have you sought psychological help in the past two years?" were distributed as follows:

• Yes, sought help, and it helped – 6%;
• Yes, sought help, but didn't feel relief – 3%;
• No, haven't sought help, but planning to – 6%;
• No, haven't sought help, and don't plan to, don't feel the need – 39%;
• No, haven't sought help and don't plan to; it's too expensive – 11%;
• Managed on my own – 22%;
• Don't believe in the benefits of such consultations – 13%.

The research method used is an anonymous online survey. The key age group was 34-45 years, and over 50% of respondents were under 45.

Rakuten Viber is part of the Japanese company Rakuten and is the most popular messenger in Ukraine (installed on 98% of smartphones). During the war, the Rakuten Viber team is doing everything possible to keep Ukrainians connected and receive up-to-date and verified information from official channels. Tens of millions of Ukrainians send each other free text messages on Rakuten Viber, make video calls, chat in group chats, and follow updates from media, government agencies, public figures, and brands. The company guarantees its users freedom and security of communication through end-to-end encryption by default.

Earlier, the Rakuten Viber team asked Ukrainian citizens how much time they spend on their smartphones during the day and how often they scroll through the news feed. 40% of respondents said they use their phones 4-6 hours daily.

Rakuten Viber also conducted a survey among Ukrainians to find out the percentage of children who have experienced bullying.