STRESS UNDER MARTIAL LAW AND ITS CONSEQUENCES FOR THE MENTAL HEALTH OF YOUTH

Abstract

During wartime, one of the most powerful factors of negative impact is stress, which poses a serious threat to an individual’s mental health and psychological well-being, especially for young people. The article examines the issue of stress influence on the mental health of youth under martial law, identifies the main consequences of traumatic experiences, and defines effective directions for strengthening the mental health of students in today’s stressful conditions. The results of a screening study of the current state of mental health among 122 individuals aged 14 to 17 are presented. For the implementation of the study, a psychodiagnostic complex was developed, aimed at assessing the level of stress, resilience, the presence of traumatic situations, neurotic manifestations, and the intrafamilial climate. In 59% of respondents, a current stressful situation was identified, although not every stressful situation proved to be traumatic. Youth with traumatic experiences accompanied by symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) demonstrated a significantly higher level of stress. Most respondents from the overall sample showed high or above-average resilience, which indicates the presence of a certain protective resource in overcoming stress. At the same time, among respondents with signs of PTSD, the proportion of individuals with low resilience nearly doubled, which pointed to a significant reduction in psychological recovery capacity in this group. A considerable part of the respondents showed sleep disturbances, behavioral and autonomic disorders, as well as signs of asthenia, anxiety, and depression. It was found that only 36.9% of the respondents were in a favorable mental state, while more than 60% required psychoprophylactic work, additional psychodiagnostics, or medico-psychological assistance. The varying degree of stress impact on the mental health of young people highlights the need to create a safe environment and ensure access to qualified clinical medico-psychological rehabilitation, which stands as a priority among the main tasks of the modern healthcare system of Ukraine.