The Bulletin of National Defence University of Ukraine

The relevance of the study was determined by the need to adapt existing methods for diagnosing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and its treatment to Ukrainian realities and the context of the Russian-Ukrainian war, which causes multiple traumas in both military personnel and civilians. The aim was to identify ethnocultural factors and experimental evidence in the context of war trauma. The methods of analysis were the PCL-C questionnaire and the Plutchik-Kellerman defence mechanisms questionnaire. The role of ethnopsychological factors, in particular national identity, collective memory, and cultural mechanisms for coping with stress, in the formation and experience of traumatic experiences was determined. The severity of post-traumatic stress disorder and defence mechanisms that help adapt to war conditions were analysed in a sample of Ukrainian students. PTSD is considered a delayed or prolonged psychological reaction to traumatic/stressful events that go beyond normal human experience. Such events may include disasters, combat operations, road accidents, sexual, physical or psychological abuse. Adverse factors, such as fatigue, exhaustion, and neurological diseases, may increase the risk of developing the disorder, but are not the main ones. Therefore, PTSD can manifest itself through repeated reliving of the trauma through memories, nightmares, flashbacks, destruction of reminders of the event, increased anxiety, irritability, disruption of routine, and emotional detachment. The study found that higher education students of different genders showed differences in the use of psychological defence mechanisms. Women were more likely to experience regression – a return to infantile behaviour patterns to reduce anxiety – as well as projection – transferring their own negative traits onto others. Men predominantly repressed traumatic experiences and rationalised – attempting to logically justify their own failures. The study of cultural factors in the experience of trauma has become key to understanding the variability of its manifestations and developing culturally sensitive approaches to diagnosis and therapy. In the Ukrainian context, resilience was based on collectivism, family support, and traditional values, which determined the effectiveness of overcoming the psychological consequences of trauma. The practical significance of the study lies in the use of these resources to create psychological assistance programmes that combine modern psychotherapeutic methods with national and cultural characteristics

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