Medical and psychological aspects of safety and adaptation of military personnel to extreme conditions

Abstract

The aim: To determine the dynamics of adaptation resources and the level of psychological safety of the personality in service members of the National Guard of Ukraine who participated in combat operations in the East of Ukraine. Materials and methods: To determine the peculiarities of military personnel adaptation to the combat activity, the “Adaptability-200” and “Disdaptability-45” methodologies were used. To determine the level of psychological safety of combatants we used “Diagnosis of psychological safety personality” and “Express diagnosis of psychological safety personality” Methodologies. The study was carried out during 2017, with 163 military participating. Results: Being 2-3 weeks in combat conditions, 54% service members revealed high, 32% – average level of adaptability, and in 14% of them signs of non-adaptability were detected. The data of adaptation resources of combatants correlates with the results of diagnostics of psychological safety of personality: in 43% of them high level, 42% – average and 15% – low level of psychological safety were revealed. Conclusions: The data obtained in the absolute majority of service members (86%) shows a good adaptability to combat conditions, and allows predicting adequate response to extreme conditions, high probability of preserving of the mental health and disability after the influence of vital factors.