Mental health of university students in Ukraine in the context of global crises and cognitive warfare

Ukrainian university students facing profound mental health challenges during the ongoing war, a humanitarian crisis exacerbated by cognitive warfare - efforts to destabilise consciousness, erode trust and manipulate emotions. Drawing on a systematic review of 65 studies and a longitudinal survey of 980 students (aged 18-24) at the University of Customs and Finance in Dnipro (2022-2025), alarming findings revealing that 60% of students report clinically relevant distress (anxiety, depression, chronic stress); 32.6% adapt to “new war norms” risking trauma normalisation; 94% endure upheavals like power outages, explosions and loss of loved ones’; 40% fear constantly for family safety and 22.4% show academic apathy amid online learning disruptions. Alas, despite suffering, 89% of the students view challenges as growth opportunities, while highlighting resilience as a resource for Ukraine’s future. Our findings recommend urgent university-integrated interventions like sleep hygiene, anxiety management, stress regulation, time structuring, resilience training and cognitive enhancement to counter somatisation of mental health effects of war.