After another air raid, returning to a normal rhythm of life is difficult. Fear, trembling hands, insomnia, constant confusion, and an obsessive urge to check your phone — none of these are signs of weakness or a “wrong” reaction. As psychologist and educator Lyubov Rudnitska explains in an exclusive comment for Wave RBC.UA, such states are a natural response of the body to abnormal circumstances. “If you can’t calm down right after an air raid, that doesn’t mean something is wrong with you,” the specialist emphasises. The key task in the first hours after an attack is to bring your attention back from the information space into your own body and into what is happening around you right now.
Grounding techniques: how to shift your attention to the present moment
The first and most accessible exercise recommended by Rudnitska is sensory anchoring. You need to look around and name several objects out loud or in your head: a table, a window, a cup, a door. Then switch to sounds — people’s voices, the noise outside, your own breathing. This simple action helps “pull” your attention out of the constant state of waiting for a new threat and anchor it in the current moment. The second technique is tactile contact with a support: put your feet on the floor and focus on the sensations under your soles, feel how your body presses against the chair or the sofa. The third method is to hug your own shoulders or wrap yourself in a blanket. According to the psychologist, the point of these actions is to remind yourself that your body has support and is in a specific, bounded space.
Breathing and physical needs: what to do when the body “forgets” about itself
Rudnitska warns against mechanically applying complex breathing schemes: if they increase anxiety, it is better to drop them in favour of other grounding techniques. It is enough to make the exhale slightly longer than the inhale — without strict counting or control. It is equally important not to ignore basic physical needs. After strong stress, a person often stops noticing hunger, thirst, or fatigue. Drinking water, eating, washing your face, taking a shower, changing clothes, or simply walking around the room — these simple actions help the nervous system gradually shift from “threat” mode to “recovery” mode. The psychologist specifically notes: you do not have to return to productivity right away. The body needs time, and that is a normal process.
Social contact and the right to fear
One of the underestimated factors in recovery is the presence of another person. Rudnitska advises, where possible, to talk to someone you trust. At the same time, you do not have to discuss the air raid itself: it is enough to drink tea together, hug, or talk about everyday things. “Sometimes the nervous system needs a simple signal: ‘I am not alone’,” the specialist explains. The psychologist places a separate emphasis on the right to acknowledge one’s own fear. After an attack, there is a temptation to quickly “pull yourself together” and demonstrate unshakeable strength, but demanding constant resilience from yourself only increases inner tension. An honest admission — “I am scared. What is happening is truly scary” — does not mean surrendering to emotions. On the contrary, it frees up resources that would otherwise be spent suppressing your own feelings.
The trap of endless scrolling: when information stops helping
The desire to find out what happened after an attack is a natural and understandable need. People check the news, read messages from eyewitnesses, look at photos and videos, and switch from one Telegram channel to another. However, as Rudnitska emphasises, at a certain point the flow of information stops helping you orient yourself and begins to overload the psyche even further. The key question to ask yourself at that moment is: “Do I really need this information right now, or can I simply not stop scrolling?” If the data are needed for a specific action — checking whether loved ones are safe, helping a person nearby, joining volunteer efforts — then it is worth finding out what you need and acting. But if everything that depended on you has already been done, you can allow yourself to put the phone down and return your attention to your own life. Re-reading the same news or watching every video from the scene does not provide new information; it only reinforces the traumatic image in memory.
Three questions after a worrying news item and the right to rest
Rudnitska offers a simple self-check algorithm: after another worrying news item, ask yourself three questions — what can I do right now, who can I help, and what do I really need to know. If the answer to the last question is “nothing right now,” that is also a valid answer. You can simply sit down, feel the floor under your feet, take a sip of water, hug a loved one, and whisper to yourself: “Yes, it is scary right now. What is happening is truly scary. But right now I am here. I am breathing. I have support.” In wartime conditions, it is normal to feel tired, angry, afraid, or to want to avoid any news for several hours. Rest, food, sleep, talking with friends, and even ordinary laughter are not signs of indifference to others’ pain. Caring for your own psychological state is not selfishness; it is a condition that allows you to remain functional and keep the strength for the actions that truly depend on you.
