The war in Ukraine puts greater pressure on the psyche than the lockdown

The data used comes from the ‘Coping with Corona’ project, which mapped the well-being of people worldwide during the corona pandemic between October 2021 and August 2022. The research team led by psychologists Julian Scharbert and Mitja Back (University of Münster) focused on people in Europe between February 24, 2022 (outbreak of war) and April 24, 2022.

The central finding: the start of the war in Ukraine led to a decline in well-being – regardless of the age, gender, political orientation or other characteristics of the people surveyed. In the weeks before the outbreak of war, mood trends were recorded daily. “Normally it is not possible to study such dramatic events in a precise time window at the same geographic latitude,” Back said.

Daily images have an effect on the psyche
People in Europe at the time would have had a significantly lower level of well-being than in the rest of the world. When the war in Ukraine was particularly prominent on social media, respondents’ mental states tended to be worse. “In addition to the obvious consequences of war, such as flights or disrupted supply chains, there is a less obvious dimension: the impact of daily news and images on the psyche,” Scharbert said.

No connection between concern and solidarity
Another result is that no direct link was found between strong concern and solidarity, such as willingness to donate or participation in demonstrations. “Our data indicate that political and social actors should also focus on mental health in times of crisis – especially of people who are already vulnerable to stress,” Schabert said. Data on people in Ukraine and Russia were not collected.