Adaptive neurostimulation methods in correcting posttraumatic stress disorder and professional burnout syndrome

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental disorder that occurs after a psychologically or physically traumatic event, and characterized by three main clusters of posttraumatic symptoms, as well as chronic and significant disturbances in emotion regulation, identity, and relationships. PTSD is more common in women, which suggests a role for the regulation of female sex hormones in its development.The objective: to study the hormonal status of women with infertility and PTSD.Materials and methods. 112 women with infertility were examined, who were divided into groups depending on the PTSD criteria. The I group included 36 women with PTSD criteria, who were diagnosed with infertility before the onset of the traumatic factor, the II group – 31 patients with fertility disorders which were diagnosed on the background of PTSD, the III group – 45 women with infertility and without signs of PTSD, the control group consisted of 50 healthy women who applied for a routine preventive examination.In all patients, on the 3rd–5th day of the menstrual cycle, the concentrations of prolactin, estradiol, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), testosterone were determined in the blood serum, in the saliva – cortisol, on the 21st day of the cycle – in the blood serum progesterone.Results. It was established that in women with infertility that was developed after the traumatic factor, the prolactin content is significantly higher (59.5±18.9 ng/ml) than in other groups of patients with fertility disorders (36.9±12.3 ng/ml in I group, 34.3±17.9 ng/ml – in the III group) and in the group of healthy women (13.5±5.6 ng/ml). The concentration of estradiol in the I group was within the reference values for the follicular phase of the cycle, but significantly lower (23.4±3.6 pg/ml) than in women of the other groups (from 87.6±14.6 pg/ml in the III group to 103.5±27.8 pg/ml in the group of healthy women). The average concentration of progesterone in the I (3.4±2.7 pg/ml) and II (4.1±2.9 pg/ml) groups was within the reference values, but was probably lower than that of healthy women (23.6±4.9 pg/ml), as well as women with infertility without signs of PTSD (19.4±5.1 pg/ml).In this study the patients with infertility which has developed on the background of PTSD had LH values within the reference normal range (2.0±0.5 U/L), but several times lower than in women with other reasons of infertility (12.0±3.6 U/l – in women with infertility before the development of PTSD, 6.0±1.9 U/l – in women with infertility without PTSD criteria) and in healthy women (9.2±3.4 U/l).An increased level of testosterone beyond the reference values was found only in women of the II group (3.3±1.9 nmol/l), in the other groups the average testosterone concentration ranged from 1.3±0.6 nmol/l in healthy women to 1.5±0.9 nmol/l in the I group and 1.8±0.7 nmol/l in women with infertility without signs of PTSD. Patients with PTSD are characterized by an increased level of cortisol in saliva, which indicates a prolonged reaction of the body to the trauma (8.8±0.3 ng/ml – in the I group, 10.3±0.4 ng/ml – in the II group), in groups without PTSD the level of this hormone in saliva was almost twice as low (5.4±0.2 ng/ml – in the III group and 5.9±0.3 ng/ml – in healthy women).Conclusions. 1. The patients with PTSD and infertility are characterized by high concentrations of cortisol in saliva and a decreased progesterone level in blood serum.2. In patients who had fertility disorders before a stressful event, a decreased estrogen concentration and an increased luteinizing hormone level were found in blood serum, which indicates endocrine disorders as a cause of infertility.3. Prolactin and testosterone levels were found to be higher in the patients with infertility that was developed after a traumatic event than in other women with reproductive function disorders. Both factors are pathogenetically related to the pathological reaction to stress.

EEG-based musical neurointerfaces in the correction of stress-induced states

Introduction The growing number of servicemen injured during the war in Ukraine creates a need for effective social and psychological rehabilitation and the identification of early signs of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Aims The aim of the study is to identify the need for psychological support for the rehabilitation of servicemen with PTSD. Methods The study employed the Primary Care PTSD Screen (Screen PC-PTSD), the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R), the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), and the Rogers-Diamond Socio-psychological Adaptation Test. The statistics were processed using descriptive statistics, analysis of variance, and regression analysis. Results This study reported that 29.65% of the servicemen showed signs of PTSD and observed symptoms of intrusion, avoidance, and hyperarousal. It was established that PTSD symptoms reduced the indicators of physical (R2=0.634, p<0.001) and psychological (R2=0.607, p<0.001) components of the quality of life of the servicemen, as well as socio-psychological adaptation (R2=0.576, p<0.001). Conclusion Among the studied servicemen, almost 30% demonstrated signs of PTSD, emphasizing the relevance of the studied problem. The identified negative impact of PTSD on the quality of life of the servicemen proved the importance of their complex social and psychological rehabilitation, involving the use of specific means at each stage. The obtained results can be used in the development of an algorithm for providing socio-psychological assistance to servicemen with signs of PTSD.

Relevance.Necessity for enhancement of therapeutic approaches to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) using a modern high-tech biofeedback.Intention. Scientific foundation for using biofeedback training in complex therapy of PTSD in combatants.Methodology.Military men, 40 healthy and 36 PTSD, aged 33.2 and 34.8 years, respectively (p > 0.05) were examined. Neurology signs were estimated with “Neurotic disorders-questionnaire-symptomatic”, quality of life – with “Quality of life questionnaire-12”, PTSD signs – with “Mississippi scale”. Stress-testing and biofeedback training were carried out using “Reacor” biofeedback psychophysiological hardware.Results and Discussion.Inverse correlations were revealed between PTSD signs and systolic wave amplitudes (SWA) from digital photoplethysmogram during stress-testing with biofeedback psychophysiological hardware. Heart rate variability and breathing recursion used in foreign studies as biofeedback training parameters for this disorder treatment didn’t correlate with signs of post-traumatic stress disorder. The effectiveness of SWA biofeedback training for PTSD complex treatment in combatants was proved. Everyday trainings during 8–10 days statistically significantly reduced neurotic manifestations and improved self-rating of life quality regarding “mental health”.Conclusion.SWA is a prognostic marker within health – illness continuum and can be used as a sensitive physiological parameter in the biofeedback trainings for overcoming PTSD. Conscious involvement of combatants into a treatment process via inclusion of SWA biofeedback trainings in PTSD complex treatment improves the results and self-ratings of life quality.

Techniques for sentiment analysis are crucial for examining people's opinions. People's attitudes are influenced by the constant and rapid growth in the amount of material provided on social networks. Most research, however, focuses on sentiment analysis to determine how a war will affect the global economy. Consequently, when studying international conflicts, national leaders and other influential figures tend to receive more attention than public opinion and emotions. The purpose of the article is to discuss the analysis of moods and focus on the analysis of emotions and social opinions during the Russian-Ukrainian conflict in order to detect the early signs of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and realizing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are vital. PTSD, with its impact on mental health, poses challenges to achieving Goal 3 of Good Health and Well-being. Additionally, it hampers access to quality education (Goal 4), especially in formative years, and can disproportionately affect women, hindering progress towards Goal 5 of Gender Equality. In the context of conflict, PTSD impedes the establishment of strong institutions (Goal 16) and underscores the importance of collaborative efforts (Goal 17) to address the complex challenges associated with trauma for a resilient and sustainable society. This study is the first to propose a model that reflects the desire to analyze the impact of this war on mental health during the Russian-Ukrainian armed conflict. This can protect people from mental disorders and suicide and provide clues for future research in this area. The method used in this work is a bidirectional LSTM method with a focus-based network approach to analyzing the sentiment of English tweets, using positive, negative, and neutral classification in a multiclass approach to detect signs of PTSD. Sentiment analysis is a method for extracting emotional content from textual information using natural language processing (NLP). Our study aims to identify people with PTSD using sentiment analysis by training a deep learning (ML) model on text data. Based on text mood analysis, trained models can detect post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We attained a 90.02% accuracy by combining the attentional mechanism with a bidirectional shortterm memory layer (Bi-LSTM). The findings of the suggested framework demonstrate greater accuracy than earlier state-of-the-art investigations. By creating an early detection model, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms may be lessened.

Study aim. To address the question of the dynamics of the clinical signs of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the strength of their relationship with organic changes in the brain. Materials and methods. A longitudinal observations study of 87 combat veterans during the Karabakh war of 1992–1994 was performed in 2009–2011. Two groups of patients were identified. Group 1 consisted of 45 veterans who had sustained mild combat-related craniocerebral trauma followed by the development of PTSD; group 2 consisted of 42 veterans with organic brain damage of traumatic origin. Full general somatic and neurological investigations of patients were undertaken, along with assessment of the patients’ status using a set of psychometric and other scales (including scales for assessment of post-traumatic reactions – the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS) and the Mississippi Scale for Combat-Related PTSD). Results and conclusions. Analysis of patients’ status during the study and comparison with data relating to the time at which trauma was sustained showed that the groups of patients with PTSD were characterized, despite some reduction in post-traumatic symptomatology, by a higher level of severity of all PTSD symptoms during the whole of the 15–18 years of disease development, with simultaneous increases in organic mental changes. In patients with organic brain lesions, the corresponding symptomatology was more severe immediately after the traumatic event than at the time of the study.

Using a Trauma-Informed Leadership Approach

Burnout Syndrome in ICU Caregivers: Time to Extinguish!

Like other first responders, many firefighters show signs of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that often go undiagnosed. Developing accessible, brief, and efficient screening tools may improve identification and service utilization. The most recent adaptation of the Primary Care PTSD Checklist for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fifth Edition (PCL-5; PC-PTSD-5 [0-20]) demonstrates promising screening performance among firefighters. Our study translated the PC-PTSD-5 [0-20] into Turkish and conducted validity and reliability analyses. The PC-PTSD-5 [0-20] was translated and culturally adapted into Turkish through forward translation, backward translation, and expert-led refinement. We conducted a pilot test with 30 firefighters, followed by carrying out the full study among (N = 215) firefighters from fire stations across all the districts of Istanbul. Participants in the full study completed the Turkish PC-PTSD-5 [0-20] and PCL-5, and we analyzed them for reliability, validity, and diagnostic utility. The Turkish PC-PTSD-5 [0-20] demonstrated favorable psychometric properties: acceptable internal consistency (α = .61); high test-retest reliability (r = 0.88, p < .001); and strong convergent validity with PCL-5 (r = 0.81, p < .001). Receiver operating characteristic analysis revealed an area under the curve of 0.947 with an optimal cutoff score of 9 that balanced high accuracy (90.23%), sensitivity (82.86%), and specificity (91.67%), while PTSD prevalence was estimated at 16.3% in the sample. The Turkish PC-PTSD-5 [0-20] demonstrates strong psychometric properties, with high accuracy at a cutoff score of 9, and excellent diagnostic utility for screening PTSD among firefighters. Future research should explore its applicability to other first responder groups and predictive validity in longitudinal studies. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Emotional numbing in combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder: A critical review and reformulation

The article highlights the results of a study on the psychological characteristics of the identity of rescuers who show signs of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The identity of rescuers is formed based on their personal experience, self-perception in the profession, assessment of their competence, as well as social interaction in the work collective. However, PTSD symptoms can significantly affect the identity of rescuers, leading to its destabilization. Among the key issues that arise as a result of PTSD are alienation from colleagues, doubts about their professional capabilities, as well as an acute sense of loss of control over their life and professional activities.PTSD develops in individuals who have experienced traumatic events. It distorts the course of a person's mental activity. The general symptoms of PTSD include a shortened life perspective, prolonged activation of combat stress, aggressiveness, conflict-proneness, social maladaptation, and disruptions in social and personal identity. PTSD is not only a personal issue for the rescuer but also a pressing societal concern, as its manifestations are, in part, generated by public opinion and the population's attitude toward emergency situations.Significant identity disruptions have been identified in rescuers who display PTSD symptoms. These are manifested in emotional polarization, instability of self-esteem, loss of confidence in their competence, and reduced motivation for active professional activity. The article emphasizes that traumatic experiences can lead to a loss of professional role identity and alienation from the team, which negatively affects work efficiency and the overall psychological well-being of rescuers. Timely psychological interventions can help maintain the stability of rescuers' identity and preserve their professional health.

Introduction and aim. The consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have led to a violation of the mental health of youth, children, and adults in Ukraine. Increased cases of mental disorders related to war trauma, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) due to violence, loss of family and friends, loss of normal life, fear, uncertainty, and constant stress, are leading to long-term PTSD, which can negatively affect their quality of life, such as physical, mental, and social well-being. Determination of symptoms of PTSD in students (men and women) of medical and technical higher education institutions during the war in Ukraine. Material and methods. At the beginning of 2024, the survey was attended by 452 students of Ukrainian higher education in stitutions (medical and technical), of which 24.6% were male and 75.4% were female, aged 15–19 (65.8%), aged 20–28 (21.1%), and over 29 (13.1%). The methodology ‘Identification of potentially traumatic events in life among applicants’ was used to iden tify students with signs of PTSD out of a total of 452 surveyed students. The next step was to assess the degree of PTSD symp toms in 121 students of the total number of students who were identified as having PTSD symptoms using the ‘PTSD symptoms list’. Research was conducted with the help of the STATISTICS program, by the Pearson’s Chi-square method, Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient (rS ). Results. The severity of the consequences of the war was assessed based on the results of a survey among students of high er education institutions during the hostilities in Ukraine. Students who participated in hostilities or were in the war zone represented 45.9% of respondents from technical universities (TU) and 24.8% of the respondents from medical universities (MU). Students who experienced sexual violence (rape, attempted rape, coercion to perform any type of sexual act by force or threats) made up 18.9% of the students in the TU and 16.9% in the MU. Conclusion. Sexual violence (rape, attempted rape, coercion to perform any type of sexual act by force or threats) among students in higher education institutions was experienced by 18.9% of respondents of technical specialization and 16.9% of respondents of medical specialization. The identified unfavorable features of students’ mental health during hostilities may lead to long-term negative consequences in the future. Particular attention should be paid to risk groups, including female students.

Nonpharmacological treatments of stress-induced disorders are promising, since they enhance endogenous stress defense systems, are free of side effects, and have few contraindications. The present study tested the hypothesis that intermittent hypoxia conditioning (IHC) ameliorates behavioral, biochemical, and morphological signs of experimental posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) induced in rats with a model of predator stress (10-day exposure to cat urine scent, 15 min daily followed by 14 days of stress-free rest). After the last day of stress exposure, rats were conditioned in an altitude chamber for 14 days at a 1,000-m simulated altitude for 30 min on day 1 with altitude and duration progressively increasing to 4,000 m for 4 h on day 5. PTSD was associated with decreased time spent in open arms and increased time spent in closed arms of the elevated X-maze, increased anxiety index, and increased rate of freezing responses. Functional and structural signs of adrenal cortex degeneration were also observed, including decreased plasma concentration of corticosterone, decreased weight of adrenal glands, reduced thickness of the fasciculate zone, and hydropic degeneration of adrenal gland cells. The thickness of the adrenal fasciculate zone negatively correlated with the anxiety index. IHC alleviated both behavioral signs of PTSD and morphological evidence of adrenal cortex dystrophy. Also, IHC alone exerted an antistress effect, which was evident from the increased time spent in open arms of the elevated X-maze and a lower number of rats displaying freezing responses. Therefore, IHC of rats with experimental PTSD reduced behavioral signs of the condition and damage to the adrenal glands. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Intermittent hypoxia conditioning (IHC) has been shown to be cardio-, vaso-, and neuroprotective. For the first time, in a model of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), this study showed that IHC alleviated both PTSD-induced behavioral disorders and functional and morphological damage to the adrenal glands. Also, IHC alone exerted an antistress effect. These results suggest that IHC may be a promising complementary treatment for PTSD-associated disorders.

Background. Numerous studies in various scientific areas deal with to the problem of mental health of Ukrainians: the theory and practice of psychological and pedagogical research, psychophysiological concepts and theories, a systematic approach in psychology, the psychophysiological aspect of the emotional background, as well as psychosomatic features of optimal personality functioning. Preservation of mental health has become a priority of the state policy of Ukraine to support the country’s stability and fighting capacity. The study of the impact of psychoemotional factors on the functional state of the body for the restoration and optimization of life support among volunteers who provide free psychological assistance and support the mental health of the population is relevant. The research was aimed at studying the origin of psychosomatic disorders in volunteers with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as well as determining the impact of these disorders on their mental health and psychosocial status. Materials and methods. The following psychodiagnostic tools were used: emotional burnout diagnosis method according to V. Boyko, NEWS questionnaire, PCL-5 questionnaire and post-traumatic growth questionnaire. According to the results of the study, it was found that emotional burnout in volunteers manifests itself in three phases: tension, resistance, and exhaustion according to indicators of a high level of stress and severe depression in respondents with signs of PTSD (23.9 %). Results. Mental disorders such as asthenic, anxiety-phobic, hysteroform and depressive syndromes are observed in all groups. Conclusions. The psychosomatic mechanism of the relationship between mental activity and behavior in PTSD includes the influence of a traumatic psycho-emotional factor that causes a constant feeling of danger, panic attacks or fear of repeating the situation, a feeling of hopelessness, low mood, apathy, loss of interest in usual activities, aggression, irritability, frequent conflicts and anger outbursts, feelings of detachment, social isolation, relationship problems and guilt for experiencing PTSD symptoms.

The impact of COVID-19 on the wellbeing of the UK nursing and midwifery workforce during the first pandemic wave: A longitudinal survey study