"What does a chicken do when it sees an eagle?" The psychologist explained the phenomenon of the maternal instinct during the war: it is stronger than the instinct of self-preservation

Larysa Didkovska, a Ukrainian psychologist and rector of the Ukrainian Free University (UVU), explained the phenomenon of mothers' behavior during the war. According to the expert, the instinct of motherhood is stronger than the instinct of self-preservation.

Didkovska spoke about this on the YouTube channel "Painful Topics" with Natalia Balyuk. The psychologist also added that mothers must do everything possible to prevent the stress of war from affecting their children in adulthood.

Larysa Didkovska noted that war is polarizing, that is, it divides the world into "before and after, into ours and others, into safety and danger." In this division, it is difficult to stay in the healthy middle ground. That's why, according to the expert, the instinct for self-preservation itself is "a reflexive human behavior during stressful situations." "We don't jump off a balcony out of fear, we don't go in front of a car out of fear, but on the contrary, we avoid dangerous places and circumstances," Didkovska said.

However, there is also a biological component in humans. And so a mother, like any female, must take care of the safety of her offspring.

"What does a chicken do when it sees an eagle in the sky? It hides. But if it is a hen, she will first of all cover the chicks with her wings. And if necessary, she will pull her babies out of the predator's claws with her last breath. Because the instinct of motherhood is more powerful than the instinct of self-preservation," the psychologist emphasized.

According to the expert, the maternal instinct is especially powerful during the current war. "How many stories do we know today about mothers who covered their children with their bodies during the bombing. There were so many mothers who hid their children and faced danger to keep the enemy away from the place where their offspring were," said Larysa Didkovska.

And these examples confirm the psychologist's words about the powerful power of the maternal instinct.

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