ABSTRACT
This chapter first explores the traumatic responses to life under war, occupation, and displacement from spatial and atmospheric perspectives. It demonstrates the intersectional experiences of fear caused by shelling, street violence, and the necessity of making decisions to flee. It reveals how, even in a place of safety, internally displaced people's (IDPs) well-being was affected by various tensions and stressors, including navigating bureaucratic challenges, building new networks of contacts, and ensuring basic survival in a context of limited resources – often accompanied by the stigmatisation of people from Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. A nationwide survey conducted in Ukraine demonstrated higher levels of anxiety and depression among IDPs compared to those not affected by displacement, as well as a low uptake of mental health services. Addressing the structural and institutional stress factors affecting IDPs, the chapter then turns to the experiences of volunteers and mental health professionals by examining war and displacement through the lens of personal and professional challenges, and the coping mechanisms employed in situations of uncertainty and scarcity.
