Recovery in Times of War: A Path Through the Body, Pause, and Meaning

Author: Antonina Kozak. Time of Logotherapy, Issue 2, 2025, pp. 68–71.

War as Chronic Stress: What Happens to the Body

Today, Ukrainians – regardless of whether they are on the front line, in the rear, or abroad – live in a state of continuous mobilization. From the moment we wake up, it feels as though an internal “alarm button” has been pressed: the body is ready to act, and the brain, even before we wake up, activates its survival mechanisms. Throughout the day, this condition reveals itself in sudden bursts of energy followed by exhaustion, and by evening, when the body longs for sleep, the mind continues to race. This is not merely emotional fatigue – it is the physiological consequence of a system that has become “stuck” in a state of constant stress.

Cortisol is one of the hormones involved in the stress response. Its daily rhythm and response to demands matter alongside its level. Prolonged stress may be accompanied by changes in this regulation, but this does not mean that everyone under stress has continuously elevated cortisol.

Whitehall II studies associate prolonged work stress with increased cardiovascular risk and some metabolic disturbances [1, 2]. Associations between work stress and daily cortisol patterns were modest or weak [3]. In MESA, some features of these patterns were associated with measures of atherosclerosis, but findings were inconsistent [5]. Other studies also reported associations between features of cortisol regulation and coronary calcification [6–8]. These findings do not establish continuously elevated cortisol as the sole cause of these conditions.

In everyday life, prolonged stress may be accompanied by tension, fatigue, sleep difficulties, and changes in appetite and emotional state. These experiences cannot, however, establish a person’s cortisol level or identify a single cause. It is important to notice how we feel and how everyday habits affect us: a constant stream of news, working without breaks, excessive caffeine, and going to bed late.

Prolonged stress can affect different systems of the body. Its effects should not be reduced to a single hormone or treated as identical for everyone. Feeling exhausted is a reason to pay attention to the body’s needs for rest and recovery.

Rest Is Not the Same as Recovery

In our culture, the belief that one must “hold on” and “keep going” is deeply ingrained. However, rest and recovery are different processes. Rest means changing activity, sleeping, watching a film, or taking a trip. Recovery means allowing the nervous system to shift from survival mode into the mode of living. It is the gradual return to normal sleep, digestion, emotional stability, and the capacity to feel joy, closeness, and love.

The first step toward recovery is always a pause. Pause is not inactivity – it is the space where the system can reset. Nature constantly demonstrates the necessity of such slowing down: the alternation of day and night, the change of seasons, periods of movement and stillness. The human body functions similarly: without sleep, the brain becomes exhausted; without quiet, the soul becomes fatigued. A pause is not weakness – it is an act of caring for oneself.

The Body as the First Step Back to Life

Recovery does not begin with the thought “I need to pull myself together,” but with regaining sensitivity to one’s own body. The body is always more honest than the conscious mind: if it is exhausted, no moral injunction or motivational appeal will work. It is important to begin with simple bodily rituals: a morning without a phone, a few minutes of natural light by the window, a balanced breakfast, short breathing exercises, micro-breaks throughout the day, and less caffeine after lunch. When the body finally feels supported, the brain begins to calm down and the nervous system begins to recover.

Meaning as a Psychological Antidote to Exhaustion

Physiological recovery is only one part of the process. A psychological and spiritual return to life is impossible without meaning. In Viktor Frankl’s work, the search for meaning offers important support in living through difficult circumstances. Meaning is not an abstract concept, but an inner source of support that enables us to live through difficulties without falling apart. For some, it lies in service; for others, in a child, creativity, community involvement, or supporting others.

When a person finds their “why,” suffering becomes a teacher rather than an enemy: pain turns into experience, loss into inner depth, and chaos into an impulse to create. Meaning does not cancel out reality, but changes the way we live through it.

Healing Is Born in Connection with the Other

Trauma isolates, but healing returns us to relationship. The psyche cannot recover in a vacuum – it needs the presence of another person: someone who sees, hears, and recognizes. For a soldier, this “other” is often a comrade-in-arms; for a child – a stable adult; for a civilian – a friend, therapist, or community. This is why the creation of support spaces – veterans’ centers, psychological rooms, conversation groups – is so important today. These are the environments where cultures of trust and care emerge, and without them, collective recovery is impossible.

Small Steps Toward a Great Return

The return to life comes through small, often imperceptible changes rather than a single leap. It means gradually stabilizing one’s patterns of sleep, eating, and movement. It means limiting information overload and creating quiet and space to feel. It means creativity: any activity that brings a person back into contact with themselves. It means meaning-making, from reflection to small daily practices that help people see the value in their own lives. It means having people around us with whom we can be ourselves.

A pause, though it may seem insignificant, gradually opens the door to a new internal state – the state of presence.

We Will Not Return — But We Will Grow

We will never be the same as we were before the war. But we can become deeper, more attentive, more whole. Recovery is not an escape from pain but accepting it as part of the human path. A person who allows themselves to pause can move forward, but now with greater awareness.

When the body quiets, when pause becomes possible, and meaning reawakens, a person does not merely function but truly lives. In that moment, fatigue becomes wisdom, fear becomes compassion, and the pause becomes a point of growth. A person who finds meaning even among ruins becomes a source of light – light that can restore, support, and heal others.

Hold on to that light. And take care of yourself.

References

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