Anxiety map

Average anxiety on the GAD-7 scale across Ukraine: from a 2024 research study and from anonymous answers of people who take the test on mentalka.app.

7.1average score in 10 oblasts
5,286participants
2024March–August
VinnytsiaVolynLuhanskDnipropetrovskDonetskZhytomyrZakarpattiaZaporizhzhiaIvano-FrankivskKyiv OblastKirovohradCrimeaLvivMykolaivOdesaPoltavaRivneSumyTernopilKharkivKhersonKhmelnytskyiCherkasyChernihivChernivtsiKyiv citySevastopol7.67.67.66.37.56.37.57.57.56.3
Average GAD-7 score
510+No data
Tap an oblast to see the details

Three study zones

The researchers grouped oblasts by how close they are to the front line. The closer, the higher the anxiety.

Ukrainians abroad

Answers from people who take the test outside Ukraine. A country appears here once it has 30 answers.

—average score
14answers from abroad

No country has reached 30 answers yet. If you live abroad, take the test and choose your country.

You don't need a psychology degree for this. Here is what actually helps when someone close to you feels anxious.

  1. Listen instead of fixing

    Let the person talk and don't rush to give advice. Often it is enough to say: "I'm here. Tell me what's going on."

  2. Don't play it down

    Phrases like "calm down", "stop overthinking" or "others have it worse" don't help. Anxiety can't be switched off by willpower, and such words only make people go quiet. Try instead: "I can see this is hard for you right now."

  3. Stay calm yourself

    Speak slowly and evenly. If anxiety hits hard, offer to breathe together: in for a count of 4, out for 6. A long breath out calms the body.

  4. Ask what would help

    "What would help you right now?" works better than guessing. Some people need quiet, some a walk, some a simple task to keep their hands busy.

  5. Support, but don't do everything for them

    You can go to the doctor or the shop together. But if you keep sparing the person from everything that scares them, the fear only grows. Notice and praise small steps.

  6. Look after yourself too

    Supporting someone takes energy. You don't have to be their only support: it helps when another close person or a professional is involved too.

When a professional is needed

If the anxiety lasts more than 2 weeks and gets in the way of sleep, work or leaving the house, suggest talking to a psychologist or a doctor. If the person says they don't want to live, don't leave them alone and call a support line or emergency services.

Where this data comes from

The MAP-U study by the University of Zurich and Sumy State University. People were picked at random from state registers in 10 oblasts and asked to complete the same GAD-7 scale as on our site. Occupied territories were not included. Kyiv city is hatched because the paper names only Kyiv Oblast.

A zone score here is the average of 8 groups: 4 age groups, separately for women and men (supplement, table S2). The authors estimated the share with anxiety with a correction for the accuracy of the scale (table S3), so it is lower than the plain share of people with 10+ points.

Mental health burden of persons living in Ukraine and Ukrainians displaced to Switzerland: the MAP studies. BMJ Global Health, 2025. Read the paper →

Site answers

These are anonymous answers from people who took the GAD-7 test on mentalka.app and chose an oblast or country. We count only the latest answer from each person. People take the test because they want to, so these numbers are not representative: they show how our visitors feel, not the whole population. The data is updated every hour.