THE ORIGIN OF STRESS IN MEDICAL UNIVERSITY STUDENTS AND METHODS OF PROTECTION AGAINST IT IN THE CONDITIONS OF MODERN UKRAINIAN REALITIES

Abstract

Purpose: to establish the influence of modern Ukrainian realities on the occurrence of stress in medical university students and to evaluate methods of protection against it. Materials and methods. To assess the impact of stress on the psycho-emotional state, a voluntary and anonymous survey was conducted of 154 people (of whom 28% were male, 72% were female) aged 18 to 24 years, who study in the 2nd-4th courses of the Ternopil National Medical University named after I. Ya. Gorbachevsky of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine using the questionnaire “Kessler Psychological Distress Scale” (K-10). Separately, using a questionnaire compiled in advance by us, the lifestyle of the respondents was analyzed. The following research methods were used: bibliosemantic, sociological, analytical, computational and statistical. Results. According to the Kessler psychological distress scale, 50% of respondents are in severe psychological distress, 22% – in moderate, 14% – in mild. It was found that almost every respondent, regardless of the level of psychological distress, constantly follows the news from the front using the Telegram channel. There is a direct relationship between the psychological state of respondents and the participation of their loved ones or relatives in the war. It was found that among respondents with severe psychological distress, only 3.9% of people have a high level of physical fitness. It was found that from 45.5 to 49.3% of respondents sleep less than the recommended time, regardless of the level of psychological distress. The greater the distress of the respondents, the more (23.3%) there were people with a sleep duration of 5–6 hours. Over the past 2 years, the number of respondents who smoke daily has increased from 6 to 22%, 38% have started drinking more alcohol, and 25% eat junk food daily. The largest changes are observed in the group with severe psychological distress. Conclusions: It was found that a significant part of higher education applicants have psychological distress of varying degrees, which indicates the urgent need of most study participants to pay attention to their psycho-emotional well-being to restore internal resources and the need for rest. The multifaceted manifestations of stress in respondents and not always correct methods of protection against it indicate the need to develop special approaches to support students during the military conflict by the higher education institution, which will include both educational and psychological aspects in order to teach students stress management strategies.