Hormonal Changes and its Relation to Psychophysiological Parameters in Combatants

Summary. The purpose of the study is to conduct research and establish the relationship between changes in stress hormones and psychophysiological parameters in combatants. Materials and methods of research. The study involved 100 people who agreed to participate in the survey. All the subjects were divided into five groups. The first four included combatants, depending on the time that has passed since participating in the fighting (the main group). The fifth (comparison group) included military personnel who did not take part in combat operations. The division into groups is carried out as follows: 1 group – 20 people, the time from the moment of participation in hostilities was up to 6 months; 2 group – 20 people, the time from the moment of participation in hostilities was 7-13 months; 3 group – 20 people, the time from the moment of participation in hostilities was 14-20 months; 4 group: a person, the time from the moment of participation in hostilities was 21-27 months. The comparison group consists of 20 people. Men aged 30-35 years old, without chronic and/or acute mental and somatic diseases, which is documented, who were not injured, concussion, were selected for the study. The average time spent in combat ranged from 6 to 8 months. The studies were conducted on an outpatient basis. The collection of biological material (blood) in each group was carried out once. All the examined patients underwent a study of stress hormones and a diagnosis of the severity of psychophysiological symptoms in response to stress. Research results and their analysis. As a result of the study, it was found that all groups surveyed showed an increase in stress hormones compared to the comparison group. At the same time, the highest indicators were found in the first and second groups, then the hormone levels decreased, but remained elevated compared to physiologically normal values. The increase in stress hormones could not but affect the psychophysiological parameters of the subjects. Thus, as a result of the testing, it was found that there was an increased degree of reaction to post-traumatic stress disorder as a predictor of diseases. At the same time, the highest scores were obtained in group 1 and in group 2. It follows from this that the surveyed groups have a high probability that stress has already affected their health. In group 3, there is a decrease in scores and a high probability of illness due to stress. The number of points in the examined 4 groups, as in the 3 group, remains a high probability of illness due to stress. In addition, signs of moderate hopelessness were found in groups 1-4, which also indicates signs of depression. In addition, the subjects of the first and second groups have signs indicating a high level of stress, which signals maladjustment, mental and psychophysiological exhaustion, or dangerous proximity to it. The subjects of the third and fourth groups showed signs of moderate stress levels.