The ‘anniversary effect’: Ukrainians live by a trauma calendar
Editor’s note:
The war in Ukraine has been going on for nearly four years, and every day brings new challenges and news. The Counteroffensive follows what is happening around the country daily and reports on the most important developments.
Our team works under any conditions, in the cold, without electricity or stable internet. But we continue our work so that you receive reliable information.
Your subscription helps us provide backup power and warm conditions for the team. Support our work. Upgrade to a paid subscription today.
Natalia wakes up in the middle of the night to check the time. The screen shows the year 2014.
She blinks, and the digits slowly return to normal.
Outside, it is February 2026. But she is living by a calendar that lags twelve years behind.
“I turn into a function, into a robot. My brain doesn’t care what year it is now — for my brain, these [February] days are simply 2014,” said Natalia Kolosovska, who has been suffering the ‘anniversary effect’ for more than a decade аfter Russia invaded Ukraine for the first time.
Natalia lives through something each February — the annual reaction to the anniversary of a traumatic event.
The beginning of the full-scale war on February 24th, 2022 became a trauma for millions of Ukrainians; most of them woke up unexpectedly to explosions, shocking news alerts, or calls from relatives saying the war had begun.
Some had to pack their entire lives into suitcases and flee their homes, while others waited in terror, fearing that Russian troops could reach their towns.
Year after year, Ukrainians face what is known as the ‘anniversary effect.’ It involves reliving difficult and distressing emotions as the date of a traumatic event approaches, and it’s not limited to only February 24th — it can last for several days or even weeks.
This happens because the body remembers its response to the event or traumatic period, and it may unconsciously reproduce it each year.
For people abroad it might feel like Ukrainians should have adapted to the war already, but the reality is that the whole nation is going through cyclical retraumatization.
The anniversary effect is an example of how trauma embeds itself in the body and permanently alters the calendars we live
...This excerpt is provided for preview purposes. Full article content is available on the original publication.