After two years of pandemic, we are again facing emotions like overwhelm and helplessness because of the Putin war against Ukraine. Once again, many people feel fear and are looking for answers to something that you can't understand yourself. That's why we initiated Care Day on our brands like FOCUS Online, BUNTE.de, CHIP.de and FIT FOR FUN. Throughout the day, experts provide psychological classification and concrete assistance on how we can nevertheless manage our everyday tasks.
In just 48 hours, the forces of BurdaForward created a day that was intended to give people support.
How important it is to create stability and how great the need for exchange is in such times of crisis or war is made clear by the high number of participants in the free webinars. We were able to win Dr. Christian Lüdke, children's book author and well-known child and youth psychologist, and Dr. med. Thomas Löw, professor of psychosomatic medicine and psychotherapy at the University of Regensburg, as experts for our webinars.
More than 2000 people dialed in last Friday to find help in the live conversations with professional experts. More than 500 questions came in, revealing what people are currently most concerned about and what fears are prevalent in our society:
"As a German in Germany, am I safe from an attack initiated by Putin?"
"How can I take the fear away from the children? After all, I can't make any promises in this regard (unfortunately)."
"What do I do if my eight-year-old son is afraid and wants to sleep in bed with his parents again?"
"Should I talk to my children (8&10) about the war or is it better to withhold information from them?"
"How should I deal with my own insecurity & fear in conversations with my children? Hide it or actively address it?"
"I haven't slept properly for days constantly circling thoughts what can I do about it?"
"What do I do if I live alone and can't escape into community?"
"Where can people who are strongly affected by anxiety and panic get concrete help?"
"I am currently afraid of dying over and over again. It goes through my mind that there is nothing I can do about the nuclear threat."
"I don't want to die yet. How do I get a handle on these thoughts."
Care Day was also accompanied by offers and expert* contributions on all BurdaForward portals to help deal with the political and economic situation. Among others, Tatjana Kiel, manager of Wladimir Klitschko and CEO of Klitschko Ventures, supported FOCUS Online's day of action. "We must never forget who the aggression comes from. In many conversations, I sense consternation and fear spreading from this war in Europe. But we must not let this paralyze us! We must not be speechless. We need dialogue and togetherness - for a free Ukraine and a free Europe."
Even beyond Care Day, no one should be left alone: With a common social network, we offer a platform to network with each other, to hook up and also to continue to stay in contact with us. To our community on the topic: https://club.focus.de/group/hilfe-in-der-krise
Eva Schuler
BurdaForward Communications
During my studies I discovered my enthusiasm for communication. Here, at BurdaForward, I have now been given the opportunity to live it out. When not in the office, you can usually find me somewhere in the mountains for mountaineering and skiing or on the Isar.