Gender analysis of the specificity of neurotic disorders in different categories of persons affected by hostilities

Abstract

Post-stress mental disorders caused by military actions in the east of Ukraine become one of the important internal barriers during adaptation to the conditions of peaceful life due to the layering on this substrate of new stresses associated with social maladaptation. The study of the specificity of the clinical structure, the peculiarities of the diagnostic process, the prevention and treatment of post-stress disorders in persons who have survived combat operations, is definitely becoming one of the most important medical and social issues of our society at the moment. We conducted a comprehensive examination of 299 patients with non-psychotic mental disorders, both sexes, with an average age of (30.6±4.7) years. The I group included 96 servicemen of the Ukrainian Armed Forces who took direct part in hostilities in the Joint Forces Operations (JFO) zone (30 women and 66 men); The II group – 98 volunteers whose activities are related to the support of servicemen in the JFO zone (54 women and 44 men); Group III - 105 forced migrants (53 women and 52 men). The clinical structure of post-traumatic stress disorders in the examined patients was represented by: post-traumatic stress disorder (F43.1); adaptation disorders (prolonged anxiety-depressive reaction) (F43.21); anxiety disorders: generalized anxiety disorder (F41.1); panic disorder (F41.0). When analyzing the clinical symptoms, we have the following gender differences: in women, compared to men, neurotic disorders were manifested by a greater expressiveness of longing, and in men, irritability and anxiety manifestations came to the fore in the clinical structure. The data obtained during the work formed the basis for the development of a comprehensive personalized program for the correction of non-psychotic mental disorders and the rehabilitation of persons affected by combat stress with the differentiated use of psychopharmacotherapy, psychotherapy and psychoeducation methods. Keywords: hostilities, non-psychotic mental disorders, combatants, volunteers, internally displaced persons (IDPs).