Discover 10 expert tips from a psychotherapist on how to avoid burnout while supporting Ukraine. Learn how to balance activism and self-care.
Helping Ukraine amid the war is important, but self-care for Ukraine supporters — for you — is also vital to ensure you have the strength to keep supporting those in need. Rubryka shares ten mental health tips on how to avoid activist burnout.
Two years ago, the phrase "Stand with Ukraine" could be seen almost everywhere worldwide. People from different countries, shocked by Russia's brutal attack on Ukraine, started doing whatever they could to help Ukrainians and support their fight. They offered aid to refugees, organized humanitarian aid shipments, provided financial help, held anti-war rallies and protests, and fought Russian propaganda in the information war. Millions of ordinary, compassionate people worldwide have been doing — and continue to do — these things and more.
It is difficult to find a Ukrainian who isn't grateful for this support. Nonetheless, more and more people involved in the Ukrainian cause have felt drained over the last year. Everyone is tired: those fighting on the front lines, those living through the war, and the volunteers. Even those helping — like you, our readers — are feeling the weight of fatigue.
"Everyone experiences fatigue in their own way. Naturally, people prefer to avoid pain and everything that leads to frustration and feelings of powerlessness," says Oleksandra Zakrasnianna, a psychotherapist with Ukraine's National Association of Gestalt Therapists. "Nobody wants to go through negative emotions, but avoiding the evil in the world, just like avoiding the topic of death, only allows that evil to spread and grow, like cancer. When society takes a childlike stance and only believes in the good, we risk losing ourselves as a species."
Ms. Oleksandra stresses that evil must be stopped and mustn't be allowed to spread. She reminds us that, thanks to the evolution of science and the efforts of many caring individuals who have persistently sought ways to halt the progression of complex diseases, we can now preserve life.
It's compassion and empathy that have allowed humanity to survive. Scientists have discovered that early humans survived by developing empathy for others. For instance, archeologists found the remains of people healed from a broken hip, showing that someone cared for them. Someone prepared food, provided medical care, and ensured their survival. Who knows how many millions of descendants have lived thanks to the humanity and kindness of that one person?
"Our generation has been tested in how we show humanity in the face of the horrors of war. In Ukraine, evil has arrived in its most aggressive and monstrous form — it brings death," says Oleksandra Zakrasniana. "And how each of us responds to this evil will determine whether humanity and our descendants have a future. Children are watching us and learning how to be and what kind of world humanity will create in the future. How much we care for one another will shape not only our future but theirs too."
At Rubryka's request, Oleksandra Zakrasniana offered some practical mental health tips on finding balance — to stay informed about the news and not turn away from the war in Ukraine but also to avoid falling into exhaustion and negativity. She explains how to support Ukraine, stay compassionate, and, at the same time, remember to care for yourself and your mental health.
We all have the right to feel tired — we can even experience activist burnout if we stand up for some vital cause. We are human, and we need rest. From time to time, we long for an escape, like when we were children, into a fantasy world where evil doesn't exist.
"By the way, it's us, adults, who start teaching our children from an early age that good and evil exist side by side — in fairy tales and cartoons, there's almost always a villain, and the heroes can only defeat them when they work together," says Oleksandra Zakrasniana.
So, we can only defeat evil by coming together — everyone who helps can make a real difference in the lives of those affected by the Russian-Ukrainian war. But how can you find the energy to give while caring for yourselves? Here's what the psychotherapist suggests:
"Be kind to yourself. Accept your emotions, including your fatigue, and give yourself permission to be vulnerable and take time to 'be lazy.' In fact, the moments when we're not physically active are crucial for our brains. During this 'laziness,' our brains analyze and organize the information we've gathered throughout the day. This stage is vital for memory formation. Research shows that areas responsible for self-reflection, dreaming, and imagination become active during relaxation. In other words, during calm moments, our minds can generate new solutions, bringing unexpected thoughts and actionable ideas to the surface."
"Burnout is a common state for caregivers who often forget to care for themselves. So, it's important to occasionally remember that simple instruction from airplanes: Put your mask on first before helping others," says Oleksandra Zakrasniana. "In the same way, we must first help ourselves before we can assist others. Only then can we defeat the evil that hopes for our exhaustion and fatigue."
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