The Role of Defence Mechanisms in Coping with Stress in PTSD Patients

Abstract

In the context of the war in Ukraine, the risk of post-traumatic stress disorders increases, which in critical cases cause the development of chronic mental illnesses and a decline in physiological functions. In connection with the emergence of a feeling of helplessness due to the inability to act effectively in a dangerous situation, various psychological defence mechanisms are formed to overcome intrapsychic conflicts. The purpose of this stud was to investigate the dominant mechanisms in individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder who had been in regions with different scenarios for the development of hostilities since the beginning of the war, using the PlutchikKellerman-Conte methodology. The information was collected from people of different age categories, types of employment, educational qualification levels, and gender who were in Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Lviv during the first two months of the full-scale war and periodically moved through the territory of Central and Western Ukraine. Cases of short-term residence abroad were also considered during the study. The results of the tension of psychological defence indicate that in individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder that stayed in different regions of Central and Western Ukraine since the beginning of the war, the projection mechanism dominated (75%), and the substitution mechanisms (12.5%) and denial mechanisms (12.5%) were equally distributed. The dominance of the projection may indicate the transfer of intrapsychic conflict to the outside. In this case, the external world is perceived by the individual as the main carrier of the threat from which they need to protect themselves. Instead, denial may indicate ignoring certain aspects of reality. Respondents who are prone to substitution use the approach of transferring repressed emotions, which can be expressed in the form of anger, fear, and hostility towards more accessible objects that are no less dangerous than those that led to frustrating experiences. It was determined that the total sample tension does not exceed 50%. This may indicate the ability of patients with post-traumatic stress disorder to resolve intrapsychic conflicts that have developed at the moment. The results of the study may be of practical interest to specialists investigating the identification and generation of methods for the prevention and treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder