Skip to content
Edit post

PTSD accounts for 29% of neuralgic diseases suffered by military, Defense Ministry says

by Kateryna Hodunova and The Kyiv Independent news desk July 28, 2024 11:26 PM 2 min read
Female service members of the Ukrainian Army's 128th Carpathian Mountain Assault Brigade train in different combat scenarios in Zaporizhzhia on July 15, 2023. (Photo by Ercin Erturk/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
This audio is created with AI assistance

The number of Ukrainian service members diagnosed with stress-related neuralgic diseases is gradually increasing, with 29% of these diseases being post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the Defense Ministry reported on July 28.

PTSD can be caused by a traumatic event, when a person experiences or witnesses something horrific, such as combat, a natural disaster, a car crash, or violence.

Key symptoms include intrusive memories (flashbacks), hypervigilance, negative thoughts, and avoidance of anything that reminds a person of the traumatic event.

PTSD can develop from a month to years after the event that triggers it and often comes together with anxiety disorders, panic attacks, addictions, and other conditions.

The share of PTSD from neuralgic diseases among the military will only increase, according to Oksana Sukhorukova, head of the Healthcare Department of the Defense Ministry.

Sukhorukova said that psychological support and assistance to the military should be provided at all stages of service, including self-help or peer-to-peer assistance, crisis interventions, psychological development points at a safe distance from the front line, and long-term psychological assistance.

Particular attention should be paid to supporting service members returning from captivity and their families, Sukhorukova added.

"We are obliged to support families all along the way: from the moment they receive a report that their loved one is missing, through the search, waiting for them, and to their release," she said.

Over the past two years, the Ukrainian Electronic Healthcare System (EHS) has recorded a significant increase in the number of patients with PTSD.

The same number of patients were diagnosed in the first two months of 2024 as in the entire year of 2021.

PTSD crisis looms as troop shortages take toll on Ukrainian soldiers’ mental health
There was nothing extraordinary about the mission until combat medic Olena found herself frozen in fear. The situation wasn’t particularly dangerous, but she couldn’t bring herself to do her job as her fellow soldiers were getting wounded. “I found myself trapped in the dugout corner, trembling li…

News Feed

5:48 PM

Russian economy after 3 years of sanctions

The Kyiv Independent sat down with Timothy Ash, an associate fellow in the Russia and Eurasia program at Chatham House, to discuss Russia's current economic situation.
12:08 PM

Ukraine's NATO prospects depend on Trump, Zelensky says.

"Everything depends on the United States. If Trump is ready to see Ukraine in NATO, we will be in NATO, everyone will be in favor. If President Trump is not ready to see us in NATO, we will not be in NATO," President Volodymyr Zelensky told journalists in Davos.
12:59 AM

Supervisory board extends arms procurement head's contract, initiates audit following proposed merger.

The contract extensions comes after Defense Minister Rustem Umerov walked back on plans to merge the Defense Procurement Agency and the State Logistics Operator into one agency, following a NATO statement said that the two agencies should be kept separate and two separate supervisory boards established "to perform their tasks and supporting their independence and anti-corruption policies."
MORE NEWS

Editors' Picks

Enter your email to subscribe
Please, enter correct email address
Subscribe
* indicates required
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required

Subscribe

* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Explaining Ukraine with Kate Tsurkan
* indicates required
Successfuly subscribed
Thank you for signing up for this newsletter. We’ve sent you a confirmation email.