After a months-long offensive in Ukraine, the Russians were on the verge of a crisis

after several months military offensive in Ukraine, sales of antidepressants and consultations of psychologists in Russia increased sharply. Suffering is becoming more and more important to Russians, trapped in a conflict they chose to ignore.

The announcement in late September of the mobilization of hundreds of thousands of reservists led to the fact that the conflict went directly to the families in Russiawhere the Kremlin has minimized the impact on its population.

The duration of the conflict and increasingly disturbing claims Moscow about the nuclear threat also contribute to the growing anxiety of Russians.

After the intervention was announced on February 24, Vasilina Kotova, a 22-year-old Muscovite, recalls being “completely paralyzed.”

“For two months I didn’t leave the house, nothing made sense,” he explains. AFP this computer science student who claims that “she survives on antidepressants, as do many of her friends.”

“At first you think that you saved yourself, that you personally weren’t affected and that your friends are crazy because they left the country,” says this pale-skinned blonde. “And suddenly the thought that you are crazy starts to torment you,” she says.

His anxiety increased with the announcement of the mobilization, as he feared that his father and brother would be recruited.

Vasilina says she also “became very ill” because of Moscow’s groundless accusations of “dirty bomb” what Kyiv was going to use.

“Then my mom really panicked,” she recalls.

Bomb shelter

In late September, following the announcement of mobilization, 70% of Russians said they were “in distress,” the highest level ever recorded by the pro-Kremlin polling institute FOM.

A month later, the independent Levada Center reported that nearly 9 out of 10 Russians said they were “worried” about the situation in Ukraine.

And last statements Kremlin They did nothing to calm the population.

At the end of October, when the President Vladimir Putin argued that the world is experiencing “the most dangerous decade, the most unpredictable (…) since The Second World War”, some residents of Vasilina began to build a bomb shelter in the underground parking of their house.

In this context, spending on antidepressants rose by 70% and painkillers by 56% in the first nine months of the year compared to the same period in 2021, according to authorities.

Online psychological counseling service YouTalk is seeing “the number of her requests have increased by 40% since mobilization,” its co-founder, psychologist Anna Krymskaya, told AFP. “The number of people who complain of depression has increased by 50%.” “.

This trend affects both those who oppose offensive as well as those who support it.

“Everyone Worries”

After the start of the conflict, Ilya Kaznacheev was “happy and proud” for his country. But since the first failures Russian troopsat the end of March, he says he feels a “constant longing”.

“What could be worse than the war that is starting? A war that is lost,” says this dark-haired, bearded man in trendy glasses from an armchair in the conservative Foliage Bookshop in Moscow.

A 37-year-old man is considering taking antidepressants but worries about a “shortage of imported drugs” due to Western sanctions against Moscow.

The well-known antidepressant Zoloft is no longer found in pharmacies. The Russians “rushed into stockpiles along with other drugs that are still available,” Oleg Levin, a leading Moscow neurologist, told AFP.

“They did a good job,” he adds.

“For or against the operation (in Ukraine), everyone is worried about their future, ”concludes the specialist, who has watched the number of his patients taking antidepressants increase by a quarter since February.

At the end of October, 57% of Russians said they were “in favor of negotiations with Kyiv”, which is nine points more than in the previous month, according to the Levada Center.

Psychologists also worry about the long-term consequences.

Amina Nazaralieva, a sex psychologist at the private mental health clinic in the Russian capital, is already fearful of the return of reservists. Many of them will suffer from “post-traumatic stress disorder and alcoholism.”

“The whole country will be traumatized for a long time,” he concludes.

(AFP)