FOUR YEARS OF THE FULL-SCALE WAR: THE CHARACTERISTICS OF MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS’ TRAUMATIZATION

Abstract

The empirical study, the results of which are presented in this article, was conducted online in February-March 2026, ahead of the fourth anniversary of the Great War, with the participation of 320 Ukrainian psychologists and psychotherapists. The survey aimed to identify the specific patterns of trauma among mental health professionals in the fourth year of the full-scale invasion. The average scores for the study group were recorded at a low (mild) level of anxiety (6.52), a mild level of depressive symptoms (8.69), and a level of post-traumatic stress symptoms (26.67), which is moderate numerically; however, in 32.19% of respondents, it exceeds the threshold of 33 points, which allows for the identification of the presence of PTSD symptoms of varying severity in nearly one in three survey participants. For all three conditions studied, both predictors and specific manifestations were identified. In particular, it was found that a common predictor influencing the onset of anxiety, depression, and PTSD is “lack of prospects for the future”. The specific nature of the predictors for the studied conditions is to some extent determined by personal, individual, and collective experiences of trauma and events in society. In particular, anxiety levels are exacerbated by fear for one’s own life and forced restrictions on the use of resources such as electricity, heating, and water supply. Depressive symptoms are driven by fears of occupation and job loss against the backdrop of a decline in economic growth. When analyzing the predictors of PTSD, in addition to the risk of losing one’s own life and the fear of occupation, the risk of forced mobilization and the amount of time spent consuming media content should bed also taken into account. The study highlights issues regarding the general health status of respondents and the ways of stabilizing it through individual therapeutic support and engagement in professional communities as a constructive way to process traumatic experiences.