When Olena (name changed) lost her husband in the war in 2015, she was only 32. He died, leaving her with a young daughter, without her own home and support. Every morning, Olena took her child to kindergarten, worked in a medical laboratory, and after her shift, ran around the courts, collecting documents to confirm her husband's death. Only a year later was she able to receive payments, with which she bought a small one-room apartment.

She learned to do everything herself: make repairs, maintain the house, drive the car left by her husband. Life gradually became stable. Her daughter grew up, her career developed, and peace cautiously returned to her heart.

But in 2022, with the beginning of a full-scale invasion, history repeated itself. Her second husband went to serve – now in the miners’ unit. For Olena, the war began again not only externally, but also internally: phone calls from unknown numbers began to cause panic, nights turned into sleepless nights, anxiety attacks and mistakes at work appeared. In her profession, every analysis can be decisive for the patient’s life, so any error was unacceptable.

Women working in medicine feel the double pressure of war. They save the lives of patients in hospitals, laboratories and ambulances – often in conditions of shelling, evacuations or interruptions in light and communication. After the shift, they return home, where they continue to be a support for their families, take care of children or elderly parents, support those who have also suffered from the war. Their work combines high professional risk and enormous emotional stress, and the responsibility for people’s lives remains with them both in working and personal time.

It was at this critical moment that Olena came for an individual consultation as part of the ZDOROVI and Americares project “Doctor.Reboot” – a program of psychological support for medical professionals. The psychologist explained to her the physiology of anxiety, helped her recognize the first signals of panic attacks and taught her tools to stop them at the initial stage: from breathing exercises to mindfulness techniques.

Gradually, Olena regained her ability to concentrate even in moments of severe stress, which helped her avoid critical mistakes. “I realized that I can influence my condition, even when the world around me is uncontrollable,” she said after the sessions.

Her story is just one of many. During the project, 10 group psychological trainings were held in medical institutions in Sumy and Zhytomyr regions, covering more than 600 doctors, as well as 100 individual consultations. Participants learned stress management techniques, recovery from shifts, and methods for preventing professional burnout.

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The project proves that even in the realities of war, it is possible to create a space where doctors do not just survive, but remain strong and professional – for themselves, for their families, for their patients, and for the country.

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Today, when the war continues, medical workers every day during the work, they save not only lives, but also hope. If we don't take care of those who are implementing those important tasks, tomorrow there may be much less medical workers to take care of Ukrainians. "Doctor.Reboot" is not just about psychological support. It's also about the future of the medical system of Ukraine.