Tina Beradze, a psychiatrist, psychotherapist and medical psychologist, is a member of the Harvard Medical Alumni Association and the World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry.

Tina Beradze was born and grew up in Georgia, got education in the United States, and was in Ukraine during the Orange Revolution. She now lives in Kyiv and is personally acquainted with many key Ukrainian politicians. She is one of the most qualified specialists in psychiatry.

In the context of Russia’s military aggression and predictions of a military invasion, Ukrainians are looking for ways to cope with stress and calm down.

Were you in Georgia when the war started? – Unfortunately, I was not in Georgia then. I worked here in Ukraine with President Viktor Yushchenko. I helped him when the President of Poland called and they both flew to Georgia. Then five leaders of European countries: the presidents of Ukraine, Lithuania, Poland, Estonia and the Prime Minister of Latvia arrived in Tbilisi, where they took part in a mass rally with Saakashvili. I am grateful to Yushchenko for the fact that he then flew to Tbilisi to support Georgia. Because if European leaders had not arrived, Putin would have bombed Tbilisi.

Now the Russian army is 150 km from the border of Ukraine, then it was 50 km from the capital of Georgia. People say, ‘Oh, now the Olympics are, so Putin will not attack’. Then there were also the Olympics, but two days after the start of the Games, Putin began bombing Georgia.

– There were also the Olympics when Russia annexed Crimea.

– Exactly. I want to say one thing, no antidepressant or tranquilizer will help. In psychology, psychiatry and psychiatric medicine it is called ‘denial’. We need to acknowledge what is happening now. And what is happening? Once again, we are on the threshold of the existential question: ‘To be or not to be’.

– Is it the question of national existance?

– Of course! ‘To be or not to be’ – that is the question for Ukraine. As you know, some countries have already evacuated diplomats and their citizens from Ukraine. Especially the American Embassy…

– What to do not to get mad in such a situation?

– A brilliant question: ‘not to get mad’. First, we need to put everything in place. The probability of a full-scale invasion is 50 to 50: either it will be or it will not be – it is clear.

We will always have time to get mad. I propose to put aside this brilliant process of getting mad. I’m serious now, without any irony. We should think now what we can do for ourselves and for our country.

– Okay. What can we do for ourselves and for the country?

First, not to drink alcohol as it will not help. Second, no to take antidepressants. We need to stay in a clear mind.

We are worried but it is a very healthy reaction. This is an adequate reaction to the situation, because we live in the conditions of the Russian invasion – in the conditions of war. So, if we do not worry, we will not find a way out. We will not find the way to the bomb shelter.

This is my idea. Some like it and some don’t. But I believe in evidence-based medicine. I understand perfectly well that a person under tranquilizers, in a state of alcohol or drug intoxication, is unable to make the right decisions.

So we have to accept the reality. We preferred not to think about it, but it happened – Russia is the aggressor and what is happening now was only a matter of time.

Now President Zelensky’s reaction to the threats from Russia is viewed by a large part of the society as follows: either he is indifferent to Russian aggression, or he supports it, or he does not understand what is happening.

– And why did we think he understood anything? Nothing personal to him.

– But most Ukrainians elected him president.

– Yes, 73% of voters, and now that I listen to their frustration, I think: what were you hoping for?

– Well, 73% of voters came to the polls and voted for Zelensky in the second round, realizing that he has no experience, he is the first time in politics, and the country is at war…

– Do you think that they did not understand this?

– Did it happen because they were against Petro Poroshenko?

– Yes.

– Did they want to revenge?

– Yes, certainly.

– With this logic and based on recent sociology, where Petro Poroshenko has almost the same rating as Zelensky, should they now go and take revenge on Zelensky?

– Absolutely.

– That is to vote for Petro Poroshenko, isn’t it?

– This is not the first time this has happened. First, people took revenge on Yushchenko. Now, we have taken revenge on Poroshenko and made Zelensky a president. But he has not become a real president – he is still producing a TV series, in which he is the main character.

– In your professional opinion, does Zelensky live in a ‘TV series reality’?

– Yes, he does it brilliantly, but real life is quite different. Real life is not a TV series.

– Formally, Volodymyr Zelensky is now the leader and commander-in-chief …

– What Zelensky will do, we have already seen in the TV series ‘Servant of the People’. That is, we do not have a real leader. That is the problem. We are on the brink of war. We need a leader, a person who will tell us, ‘Let’s go to the bomb shelters’. A person who will pave the route and explain what we need to do to protect ourselves.

Normandy negotiations will simply postpone the problem. Do you understand? Just postpone.

Now, as a doctor, I tell you: there is nothing worse than constant stress – in our case it is the expectation of war. Constant stress destroys our immune system.

– Let’s return to cultural psychology, why do we, Ukrainians, constantly want to take revenge on politicians? Is it because we trust them and they constantly deceive us?

– I will explain why. Just look how the society liked the story of ‘oppressing the oligarchs’. It is also a cultural peculiarity.

– Do we envy them?

– Оf course. This is happening not only in our country, and we are unique. As soon as a person feels injustice, logic is absent and critical thinking is turned off.

– At the same time, ‘every day’ corruption – giving a box of chocolates to a doctor or bypassing bureaucratic procedures with a bribe – is part of our life. We do not want to wait, we do not want to follow procedures. We want a quick solution to the problem.

– We may want to eliminate ‘every day’ corruption, but if do not accept these ‘every day rules’, we lose huge amounts of time. And as I get older, I realize that there is nothing more precious than time.

 – Tina, you give very sharp assessments, are you not afraid of the consequences? It is no secret that Zelensky’s government is fighting with critics – with the political opposition and civil society, and is trying to discredit the independent media.

– Lukashenko already wants to kill me after my speeches. Putin has long wanted to kill me, because of what I wrote this in 2014.

And now I come up with my opinion for the third time, despite the fact I promised myself not to comment on politics anymore. But we are at war! We are in danger! Even if this is my last interview, which is quite possible.

– Some people think that the Americans will help us, they will do everything instead of us.

– I remember how it was happening in Georgia. But there was a leader. He was ‘chewing on his tie’, but he was there. And when all the strategic targets of Georgia began to be bombed, he already had an army ready by all NATO standards. The Americans are now saying, ‘We are giving you weapons, but there will be no NATO soldiers in Ukraine’.

And how should a leader of a nation behave when the United States evacuate its citizens? What should he do?

But he tells us, ‘I don’t advise you to panic’.

And then I started to panic, because I realized that we are in the a**-hole.

Why isn’t he up to it? Because he is still producing a TV series? Applause. I cannot allow myself any TV series right now. Then Poland and Baltic countries.

Take a look at Zelensky’s latest press conference for foreign media. American journalists are surprised: ‘Why is the president of a country in danger minimizing the threat?’

– All this prevents him from being in his own reality. He prefers his own reality; he does not want to think about any military threats because it hinders making TV series.

I have watched this many times, and it is a medical fact: if you compare a person’s brain before coming to power and after two months at power – they are two different people.

– Is he ready to resign in the event of an early presidential election?

– It is a brilliant question. I will repeat once again: the fate of Ukraine is being decided now. If there is no country, then what for is the position of a president?

– Does he understand this?

– No, he doesn’t.

We all read what Putin wrote about Ukraine. Putin said there is no such a country. We are facing a great threat. The whole world understands this, but we do not. I will give you an example. A good friend of mine works for an American IT company, which warned him ‘if Ukraine is occupied and Ukraine joins Russia, we will have to cancel the contract with you. But if you want to continue cooperation, we offer you several countries to choose from, we give you a week’.

And then I understood what is really happening. If your passport says that you are a Ukrainian, you have to defend this country.

– Do you know president Zelensky personally? 

– Yes, for a long time.

In 1964, Barry Goldwater ran for president in the United States, and he was completely intellectually deficient. Then American psychiatrists came out and said that. The statement provoked a scandal and Goldwater’s loss in the presidential election. This was followed by the Goldwater rule. Do you know when they broke this rule? When Trump began to show strange behavior. It was already clear that something was wrong.

Of course, we are not in America. I do not have to follow the rules. But when I say this about the current president of Ukraine, it means that everything is very bad here.

– I can predict the headlines after this interview: a psychiatrist diagnosed Zelensky. Are you not afraid of previous threats against you?

– I had been silent for three years.

What he is doing now is dangerous. What he said about Kharkiv is high treason. Zelensky is not a leader. And Ukraine needs a leader to survive.