A Note on Wellbeing in Eastern Europe

North American anthropologist Sarah Phillips wrote that socialism still matters for the way in which people live their lives: how they think of their societies, experience state and market institutions, shop, seek support networks, etc. 1

Across Eastern Europe, a system transition happened from centralised to market-based economies, generating many changes, including the dismantling of social safety networks, privatisation of public wealth, widespread corruption, etc. As a result, those changes have produced harsh living conditions and dysfunctional socio-economic realities.

The uncertainties that have been generated from the system transition have had an effect on the physical health of the post-Soviet population. 2 For example, life expectancy in Russia is 60 years for men and 73 for women. 3 The overall decline in life expectancy in the region have become synonymous with the disintegration of social welfare programs and support networks. 

In Poland, working-class occupations report worse health and physiological wellbeing. 4 Upward social class mobility is associated with betterment of psychological wellbeing, likely due to exposure to different and healthier lifestyles. 5 This should be understood in the light of changes in the country’s social structure amid the system transition.

It would be safe to assume that the sociopolitical changes in Eastern Europe have had a strong impact on emotional wellbeing too. And while the group cannot feel, it can produce institutional, ritual or discursive preconditions for feelings, which are then commonly shared by individuals. 6

Although the ‘Eastern Europe’ label presents a limited and archaic paradigm of the Cold War era, and the assumed regionality is coupled with nationalised concepts of space, territory and borders, 7 Eastern European societies share preconditions for feelings based on the process of system transition.

Over many centuries in Eastern European societies, war and persecution have been repetitive features of the social, economic and political histories. One of the consequences of traumatic events is that it generates specific expectations around emotional and behavioural conformity, eventually becoming encultured. 8

Socialisation to acquire a culturally approved emotional orientation happens from an early age for the society’s members, leaving many young people to carry the resentments, trauma and anxiety of their ancestors. 9

The intergenerational trauma often remains dormant, resulting in subconscious trauma-based responses from grandchildren such as stockpiling food, showing social hostility and mistrust, feeling shame, anger, and decreased self-worth. 10

For many elderly people who have experienced inhumane treatment during WWII, ‘keeping it in the family’ is one of the strategies for managing lasting effects of trauma. 11 Inner feelings are not shared outside of a close family group, being seen as an invasion of one’s private space. ‘Keeping face’ is also used as a strategy for managing inner pride. 12

Expression of emotions is typically seen as a weakness. In the Balkans, humour is considered an acceptable form of communicating conflict-related experiences without emotional disclosure. Certainly, first-hand experiences of war have an amplifying effect on existing problems such as alcoholism, family violence or poverty - all common in Balkan societies. 13

Often, people aren’t aware they are in need of help or support. This is in part because the exposure to trauma generates ‘the capacity to confront the stressor with more resilience’. 14 Resilience as a quality is learned from parents. Furthermore, needing help or support is highly shameful given that across the region, stigma and discrimination against those with mental disorders are widespread at all levels of society. 15

Mental health services were mostly built on biological approaches, were hospital-based, stigmatised, underfunded and under-resourced. 16 Reforming the existing mental health system encounters a triple barrier: stigma, limited healthcare resources and lack of trained staff at all levels - remaining neglected by governments and the international community 17 (who are often the source of funding).

Endnotes

1 Phillips, ‘Postsocialism’, 441.

2 Carroll, ‘Wellbeing in Post-socialist Societies’, 2. 

3 Bazylevych, ‘Health and Care Work’, 1.

4 Zelinska, ‘Wellbeing in Poland’, 8.

5 Ibid., 8.

6 Kiossev, ‘The Dark Intimacy’, 2. 

7 Carroll, ‘Wellbeing in Post-socialist Societies’, 2. 

8 Mackenzie, ‘Stigma and dementia’, 239.

9 Kiossev, ‘The Dark Intimacy’, 2.

10 Petrović, ‘Balkanization of identity’, 18.

11 Mackenzie, ‘Stigma and dementia’, 239.

12 Ibid., 239.

13 Petrović, ‘Balkanization of identity’, 20.

14 Kazlauskas, ‘Intergenerational Transmission of Resilience?’, 12.

15 Skuse, ‘‘Mental health services in Eastern Europe’, 3.

16 Ibid., 3.

17 Ibid., 3.

Bibliography

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Petrović, Ljudmila. ‘Balkanization of identity: Rebuilding fragmented identities through narratives’ (2021) https://summit.sfu.ca/item/34675 accessed 18 February 2023.

Phillips, Sarah D. ‘Postsocialism, Governmentality, and Subjectivity: An Introduction’ Ethnos 70(4), (2005) https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00141840500419725 accessed 16 February 2023.

Skuse, David. ‘Mental health services in Eastern Europe: past, present and future’ BJPsych International no.1(16), (2019) https://doi.org/10.1192/bji.2018.30 accessed 18 February 2023.

Zelinska, Olga, Gugushvili, Alexi, Bulczak, Grzegorz ‘Social Mobility, Health and Wellbeing in Poland’ Medical Sociology no.6, (2021) https://doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2021.736249 accessed 16 February 2023.