The report, Mental Health and Resilience Research Among Journalists, surveyed 122 media professionals working in Ukraine between November 2024 and January 2025, followed by in-depth interviews through April 2025. It was prepared by the Daily Humanity team — Olga Khan, Kateryna Sergatskova, and Larisa Kalik — with methodological support from Professor Lauren Walsh of New York University.
The headline finding is stark: 85% of respondents have experienced professional burnout, and the same share report a work-related traumatic event. Stress (75%) and anxiety (70%) are the dominant emotional reactions to the job. The leading driver of burnout is chronic overload, cited by 82%, followed by emotionally exhausting content and a creeping loss of meaning. Yet alongside this strain, journalists also report strong pride and satisfaction in their work — a professional identity that the study identifies as a key psychological resource.
Coping Strategies: A Mixed Picture
Coping strategies are a mix of healthy and harmful. While 84% talk through stress with friends or colleagues, many turn to alcohol, comfort eating, or other destructive outlets, and a small but significant minority report self-harm — patterns the authors warn often go unspoken in newsrooms.
The Institutional Gap
Institutional support emerges as the central gap. Roughly half of respondents don't trust their managers enough to raise mental-health concerns, and managers themselves are often more isolated than the reporters they lead. Only 23% seek professional psychological help; cost (42%), time, and stigma are the main barriers.
Notably, while 72% have completed hostile-environment safety training such as HEFAT or HEAT, only 27% received any emotional or psychological component — a clear training blind spot that Daily Humanity is working to close.
Recommendations
The report closes with recommendations across three levels:
- Media organisations should adopt formal mental-health policies, manager training, and post-deployment support.
- Unions and donors should fund psychoeducation, peer groups, and subsidised therapy.
- Individual journalists are encouraged to seek help without shame and to treat their psychological wellbeing as a professional responsibility.
Ukrainian media workers, the study concludes, show remarkable resilience — but cannot sustain it on individual willpower alone. Systemic care is now a professional necessity.
Research by Olga Khan, Kateryna Sergatskova, and Larisa Kalik, Daily Humanity Foundation. Methodological support: Professor Lauren Walsh, New York University.
This article references mental health, burnout, and self-harm. If you or someone you know is struggling, the National Psychological Association of Ukraine operates a support hotline; local crisis services are also available in most countries.