PHANTOM PAIN OF A SERVICEMAN’S PERSONALITY AS A SPECIAL UNIT OF PSYCHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS

Abstract

A traumatic amputation sustained by a serviceman in the Russian-Ukrainian war not only leads to complex health problems, but also affects all aspects of his daily life, mobility, body image and psychosocial adaptation. The post-operative period of life for a serviceman with an amputated limb is accompanied by unbearable phantom pain. This scientific article explores phantom pain as a kind of psychophysiological condition that reflects the sensory, emotional and cognitive spheres of a serviceman’s life. Considering the genesis of phantom pain, which can be delayed for months and even years, the authors analyse how the intensity of its manifestation is related to the age of the serviceman, the level of amputation, psycho-emotional support and a number of other individual or typological characteristics. It is stated that phantom pain is often generated by a thought that precedes a future holistic motor action. Providing corporeality, phantom pain thereby signals to a person that the pain has a body. Specific forms of phantom pain modulation at different stages of limb amputation have also been identified. The authors pay special attention to establishing the relationship between phantom pain and the emotional reactions of a soldier with an amputated limb. It is outlined that the power of their expression can cause a soldier to obtain a narcissistic wound, make him more selfish, mournful, mischievous, increase existential uncertainty, holistic reflections and negative expectations. The authors' opinions are supported by the memories of wounded soldiers with amputated limbs, which reinforce and clearly illustrate the problem of studying phantom pain. Amputation of a limb is not a final sentence in a soldier's life, but it leads to depression, loss of meaning in life and constant thoughts of death due to one's own weakness. The process of adaptation to new changes in the structure of the body of a wounded soldier is quite long in time and requires titanic efforts in rehabilitation measures and further adaptation to normal living conditions and psychosocial adaptation. Overcoming phantom pain is an extremely difficult task, but the prospects for its study are a dominant value for saving the life of a wounded soldier with an amputated limb and relieving his suffering.