Survey: Ukraine retreat lifts mood but not war anxiety

A new white paper from Common Man for Ukraine found that an 18-day mental health retreat in Poland improved happiness, safety and hope for Ukrainian children whose parents were killed or are missing in the war. But most participants still worried about the families waiting at home, underscoring the limits of healing during an active conflict.

Why it matters: - The findings show that short-term mental health support can help Ukrainian children feel calmer, safer and more hopeful even while the war continues. - The survey also shows a harder reality: emotional gains do not erase fear for family members left behind. - The report offers a rare look at how war affects children ages 8 to 12 who are trying to recover while still living with loss and uncertainty.

What happened: - Common Man for Ukraine released a white paper Monday analyzing voluntary post-program surveys from 527 children who attended its monthly mental health retreat in Zakopane, Poland. - The responses represent about 89% of children who took part between February 2025 and July 2026. - The children, ages 8 to 12, spent 18 days at the retreat after losing a parent or with a parent still missing in the war. - The program is based in Poland and supported by the New Hampshire-based nonprofit Common Man for Ukraine.

The details: - 59.5% of children said they felt happier or calmer after the retreat. - 54.6% said they felt safer. - 50.1% said they felt more hopeful about their future. - 93.5% said they would recommend the experience to another child. - Nearly 58% said they left with more peers they could turn to for emotional support. - Only 13.9% said they worried less about the families waiting at home. - Nearly one-third said their worry increased. - Program staff encourage daily communication between the children and their mothers or caregivers. - The report says the findings are based on self-reported experiences, not a validated clinical instrument. - The organization plans to switch to a modified PHQ-9 assessment beginning this fall. - Lisa Mure, a public health consultant and one of the nonprofit’s four co-founders, said the children are learning to experience joy while carrying fear that no child should have to carry. - Susan Mathison, another co-founder, said the organization published the findings because honest evaluation strengthens humanitarian work.

Between the lines: - The data suggest the retreat helps children reconnect with normal childhood experiences, but war-related grief remains active after the program ends. - The split between improved mood and persistent worry points to a limit of therapy, recreation and peer support when a family is still under threat. - The decision to publish the survey as a white paper signals an effort to show both progress and shortcomings in humanitarian mental health work. - UNICEF has estimated that 1.5 million Ukrainian children are at risk of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health conditions. - In February 2026, UNICEF said more than a third of Ukraine’s children, nearly 2.6 million, remained displaced, including more than 791,000 inside the country.

What's next: - Common Man for Ukraine plans to begin using a modified PHQ-9 assessment this fall. - The nonprofit’s leadership is departing on another humanitarian convoy to Ukraine one day after the white paper release. - That convoy will deliver 48,000 pounds of food to 16 villages near the front lines. - The nonprofit says its mental health programs run monthly and are funded entirely by donations. - Common Man for Ukraine has completed more than 50 humanitarian aid missions that delivered more than 4.5 million pounds of food and supplies, hundreds of generators and more than 10,000 sleeping bags. - In 2025, the nonprofit and its Polish Rotary partners also launched a monthly 10-day retreat in Zakopane for widowed mothers of the children served by the program.

The bottom line: - The retreat appears to help Ukrainian children regain some safety, joy and hope, but the survey shows that war’s emotional weight does not end when the program does. - More information is available in the full white paper and on the organization’s website.