Post-traumatic stress disorder and рsychological mindedness in military personnel with combat surgical trauma

   Relevance. It is known that the wars of each subsequent era differ significantly from the wars of the previous era; modern local conflicts have become a war of missiles, smart projectiles, drones, electronic countermeasures, which immediately changes the nature of injuries. Against this background, post-traumatic stress disorder, in particular among military personnel, which arose after traumatic events, determines severe fear, helplessness, horror, guilt, shame, anger, which reduces the psychological well-being of the affected people and affects their psychosomatic state,
which creates difficulties in their medical and psychological support. Intention − to investigate the influence of post-traumatic stress reactions on psychological resilience in military personnel with combat surgical trauma (gunshot and non-gunshot wounds, closed and open injuries, combined injuries from various weapons classified as combat surgical pathology).

   Methodology. An experimental psychological research to study the influence of post-traumatic stress reactions on рsychological mindedness in military personnel with combat surgical trauma was carried out in men aged 35.83 ± 9.26 years, who at the time of the study were undergoing inpatient examination, treatment and rehabilitation for combat surgical injuries in accordance with the requirements of regulatory documents in 2022–2023 for 6.28 ± 1.1 months (considering the issues of diagnosis and treatment of the lesion was not the purpose of this study). Psychometric measurements of the severity of post-traumatic stress reactions were carried out according to the «Mississippi Scale for Combat Related PTSD» (military version) [12], and psychological mindedness – according to the «The psychological mindedness scale» [16], adaptation in Russian [9].

   Results and Discussion. It was found that in the group of patients with combat surgical trauma, when adequate medical and psychological support measures were carried out in the majority of examined patients, psycho-somatic adaptation was assessed as good. Few patients with impaired psychological adaptation have been identified; perhaps the changes are associated with premorbid problems. The main parameter of psychological mindedness was «Interest in the sphere of experiences», which implies entering into social contact, seeking social support; that is, the examined patients feel changes in their feelings, take a more meaningful approach to understanding their own behavior and show interest in the motives of other people’s behavior, which is important from the point of view of subsequent social adaptation.

   Conclusion. Psychological prevention of mental adaptation’s disorders in unusual conditions of life involves knowledge of various aspects of life in order to form adequate behavior in changed conditions; this allows us to identify risk groups for which, according to indications, it is necessary to carry out preventive medical and psychological interventions. Thus, according to various sources, the most successful approach to solving the problem is considered to be a comprehensive strategy, including psychopharmacological, psychological and rehabilitation methods aimed at influencing victims.

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