Before Andriy Herasymenko started receiving treatment at the Forest Glade Mental Health and Rehabilitation Center, he was getting at most two hours' sleep per night – the result of the trauma he suffered fighting on the front line.

He remembers exactly when his problems started. He had been taking cover in the trenches on the outskirts of Kyiv, a few meters away from Russian lines, when several bombs exploded nearby. 

When he got out to assess the situation, his commander noticed Herasymenko was shaking. That's when he realized something was wrong.

"I don't even know how I felt the moment when bombs were exploding," he recalls, "but I realized I could not carry on with my duties. I knew something was wrong with my body. I had headaches and numbness of my hands and legs."

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Herasymenko was diagnosed with acute anxiety at a military hospital before being sent to Forest Glade, based on the outskirts of the capital, Kyiv. Here, along with 220 other patients, he received a range of treatments including conventional medicines and psychotherapy. He was also given the opportunity to try a range of alternative therapies, such as tongue drums, acupuncture, yoga and pottery.

Forest Glade is the only medical center in Ukraine dedicated exclusively to mental health. When it opened in 2018, many of its patients were civilians. But since the start of the conflict against Russia, the majority of people admitted are soldiers – although civilians who have been held captive or tortured are also treated.

Neurologist Kseniia Vosnitsyna, the director of the center, says the patients' diagnoses include PTSD, anxiety, depression, feelings of despair and survivors' guilt. She also points to a condition specific to Ukrainian soldiers: post-concussion syndrome, caused by the effects of blast waves – sudden rises in air pressure followed by an equally sudden drop to below atmospheric pressure. They are the result of very powerful explosions and can cause traumatic brain injury.

"For Ukraine is it now a huge problem," she says, "because almost everyone on the front line has experienced blast waves. All of them have psychological problems as a result. It's because the numbers of weapons used against us has been abnormally high for the 21st century."

The thinking behind the center's holistic approach to treatment is that complimentary practices such as art and music therapy have a healing effect on the body as well as the mind, which Vosnitsyna says is essential for recovery. She adds that trauma is usually concentrated inside muscles, which then results in spasms. That's why the center places a strong emphasis on physical rehabilitation, including muscle training and bio-suggestive therapy.

At the moment, the government-funded center is receiving between five and seven new patients every week, with each course of treatment lasting three weeks. Doctors, psychotherapists, social workers and psychologists work together to provide all the help the patients need.

Andriy says he may go back to the frontline, along with other soldiers who have shown significant signs of improvement. But those with chronic cases become medically exempt from military duties and may receive further treatment at other centers.

But the most important thing most patients take away from Forest Glade is the ability to recognize they have a problem and to learn how to build trust. And that, Vosnitsynia says, is the key to recovery.