--- title: "Psychological Blackout: How to Keep Sane in Darkness and Control Life" description: "Psychotherapist Natalia Garina explains how to handle anticipatory anxiety before a difficult winter, separate preparation from fear, and maintain control over life." date: 2026-11-08T16:28:46.337Z lang: en url: https://xab.info/en/posts/psychological-blackout-keep-sane-darkness tags: [psychology, mental-health, winter-preparation, ukraine-war, coping-strategies] author: "Inna Kinsheva" publisher: "XAB.info" --- # Psychological Blackout: How to Keep Sane in Darkness and Control Life ![A woman looks out a window with a concerned expression during a psychological crisis](https://xab.info/media/2026/11/08/psihologicheskiy-blekaut-kak-sohranit-rassudok/psihologicheskiy-blekaut-kak-sohranit-rassudok-1.webp) ## Key Points - Anticipatory anxiety after four years of war makes people live through catastrophes in advance. - Preparation has a concrete end and action plan, whereas anxiety is endless. - It is necessary to divide reality into personal control zones and external factors. - Making plans and living a full life during wartime is a psychological necessity. Ukrainians are entering another winter long before the outdoor temperature drops below zero. Amid ongoing attacks on energy infrastructure and potential power outages, many people's minds paint the worst possible scenarios: no electricity or water, heating cut off, communication lost, and the winter itself turning into an unbearable ordeal. In psychology, this state is known as anticipatory anxiety, where we suffer not only from events happening right now, but also from what we believe might happen in the future. ### The Anatomy of Anticipatory Anxiety After Four Years of War Master of Psychology and psychotherapist Natalia Garina notes that after four years of a full-scale invasion, anticipatory anxiety is a completely natural reaction of the nervous system. She explains that our nervous system has learned not just to wait for danger, but to work ahead of time and anticipate it. The problem arises when household preparations for winter quietly turn into a permanent residence inside a future catastrophe. According to the expert, even if a person still has electricity, heat, and water in their home, they have psychologically already plunged into a total blackout. They check the news feed dozens of times a day, study alarming forecasts, endlessly replay worst-case scenarios, and buy necessary items, yet still do not feel safe enough. The nervous system becomes exhausted by the constant tension without being able to switch to daily tasks. ### The Difference Between Preparation and Fear At this point, it is critically important to regain awareness of the difference between two fundamentally different concepts: preparing and being afraid. As the psychotherapist points out, preparation has a concrete end. Checking power banks, planning water reserves, alternative lighting, heat, communication, essential medicines, and agreeing on an action plan with loved ones are tangible steps. Once you have done everything within your control, you return to present life. Anxiety has no end; it constantly asks: 'What if this is not enough? What if it gets even worse?' Therefore, in conditions of prolonged danger, it is important not to strive for an absolute sense of security, which the war simply does not provide. A much more realistic goal is to regain a sense of control over one's own life. To achieve this, the psychotherapist advises dividing daily reality into clear parts. ### Managing Reality and Refusing Postponed Existence One must acknowledge what one truly cannot influence: shelling, the speed of repair crews, or the state of power grids. You cannot wake up rich enough overnight to buy your own power plant or air defense system. Therefore, you should outline a conditional planning horizon — actions for today and the next week, while everything else falls outside your competence. Another key rule for maintaining psychological resilience is not to postpone one's own existence until the moment when everything around becomes absolutely safe. Meeting friends, buying tickets, planning education, falling in love, celebrating birthdays, drinking coffee on a terrace, and building professional plans during wartime are not frivolity or denial of reality. This is a way to prevent war from occupying all internal space and to provide the psyche with daily visual evidence that life continues. ### The Importance of Psychological Resilience Ahead of Winter The expert concludes that the most important preparation for this winter is not only charged power banks and purchased candles, but a sincere agreement with oneself: to prepare for the difficult period through actions, but not to live through it emotionally in advance. The coming winter has not yet arrived, while today is already ongoing. ## Fact-Check & Sources - [Психологический блекаут: как не сойти с ума в темноте и сохранить контроль над жизнью](https://wave.rbc.ua/ukr/wellness/psihologichniy-blekaut-k-ziyti-rozumu-temryavi-1793979652.html) - The primary source article from wave.rbc.ua fully supports all psychological recommendations and quotes provided by expert Natalia Garina. ## FAQ ### What is anticipatory anxiety when preparing for winter? It is a psychological state where a person suffers not only from current hardships, but also from endlessly replaying worst-case future scenarios in their mind. ### What is the main difference between preparing for winter and fear? Preparation has a clear end and measurable actions, while anxiety is endless and constantly fueled by doubts about whether enough has been done. ### How to maintain mental health during potential power outages? The psychologist recommends defining personal influence zones, setting action plans for the near future, and not postponing a full life for later.