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Four years into Russia's full-scale invasion, half of all Ukrainians report dealing with mental health stress.

Ukraine needs more ways to deal with its mental health burden, and psychedelics offer a possible path.

Psychedelic treatment has shown promise in trials around the world but faces legal hurdles in Ukraine.

Guest Post by Natalie Leticia Gallón

Kyiv, Ukraine—As Ukraine enters its fifth year of Russia’s full-scale invasion, a quieter crisis is unfolding. Beyond the front lines, the war’s brutality is leaving invisible wounds on the soldiers who fought to defend the country, exposing the long-term psychological toll of combat.

With millions of soldiers estimated to be suffering from trauma-related conditions, not to mention civilians, Ukraine faces an urgent question: How will it treat the lasting mental scars of war? Among the emerging possibilities is psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) in treatment of war-related trauma, a controversial yet increasingly researched approach that some experts believe could play a transformative role in veteran mental health care.

Stanislav Hibadulin was born in Chișinău, Moldova, but when Russia seized Ukraine's Crimea peninsula in 2014, he felt compelled to fight. “As an individual, I always try to help someone,” he says. “I decided to defend Ukraine.”

He enlisted in the Azov Volunteer regiment in 2015, fighting for several years and taking on the call sign “Hitman.”

In a 2018 ambush, he was shot in the leg and abdomen while his closest friend, Ilya, was severely wounded in the neck. As Hibadulin, a self-described atheist, lost consciousness during evacuation, he began to pray.

“I begged God to leave Ilya alive and to take me. That’s how much I loved my friend. I was ready to give my life for him.”

Ilya did not survive. Hibadulin lost his spleen but survived.

“I understand that many people believe war is something really bad, and that’s true, but after a few weeks in a war, I realized that some people, some individuals who are warriors inside, can even start to love the war,” he says.

Seeking revenge for the death of his friend, he returned to the front, where he was wounded on two more occasions, causing him to lose fingers and a leg.

The war caused three physical injuries........

© Psychology Today