Albina Mikirtychian
student of the second (master's level) social and psychological faculty, National university of civil defenсe of Ukraine
Valerii Bosniuk
Ph.D. in Psychology, Associate Professor, National university of civil defence of Ukraine
ORCID 0000-0003-0141-1920
DOI - https://doi.org/10.52363/dcpp-2024.1.2
Keywords: PTSD, subjective perception of stress, psychological well-being, traumatic experience.
Since the beginning of the war against Ukraine, a large number of people have been forced to move abroad or to other parts of the country where active hostilities are not taking place. The processes of such displacement are psychologically traumatic for the individual. A theoretical analysis of the available literature shows that IDPs suffer from psychological disorders of a diverse spectrum related to the experience of extreme events, chronic stress and a sense of helplessness in the face of danger.
In our study, in order to investigate the peculiarities of traumatic experiences of Ukrainian displaced persons, we divided the sample into three groups: 1) people who were forced to move from their permanent place of residence abroad; 2) those who moved abroad but returned to Ukraine; 3) those who did not change their place of residence.
The results revealed that virtually all respondents reported a deterioration in their health and emotional state, which indicates a direct negative impact of the prolonged stress of war on the overall well-being of displaced persons. It was also diagnosed that the deterioration of the financial situation is an indirect factor of psychological trauma in the context of military conflict.
It was found that relocation is an additional stressor, with the highest scores on the scale of subjective assessment of stressful events in the group with experience of forced relocation abroad and subsequent return to Ukraine. Those who did not leave their homes despite the threat experience less stress, as they are in a more familiar and supportive environment and have generally been able to adapt to the prolonged environment of uncertainty.
According to the results of the study of PTSD, it can be stated that people who were forced to go abroad because of the war and remained there are the most psychologically traumatised, they have more pronounced negative delayed reactions. Displaced persons after moving from abroad to Ukraine show a statistically significant higher level of psychological well-being. This may be due to the return to the usual living conditions, which increases the psychological resource of the individual, which generally mobilises the body's functioning, and is statistically significantly reflected in better physical well-being.