The structure of an individual's defensive behavior in a difficult life situation (based on examples from Mariupol and Saint Petersburg)

Bogachev Aleksei Mikhailovich ORCID: 0000-0002-9430-2274 Researcher at the Center for the Prevention of Extremism in Education and Youth Environment, A. I. Herzen Russian State Pedagogical University; Senior Lecturer of the Department of Practical Psychology, Mariupol State Humanitarian University named after A.I. Kuindzhi 197198, Russia, Saint Petersburg, Bolshaya Pushkarskaya str., 6, sq. 20 amb1976@mail.ru Other publications by this author

Introduction

In the modern world, the problem of a person overcoming difficult life situations with the help of protective mechanisms, as well as coping strategies, is becoming increasingly relevant ^[1-17]. Despite a significant amount of research in this area, the issue of intra-leaf integration of self-regulation processes, as well as their situational specificity, remains unresolved. In particular, this problem manifests itself in the reactions to stress of the civilian population who witnessed military operations.

Their adaptation – internal and external – to a difficult life situation can lead either to personality deformation, accompanied by the actualization of immature defense mechanisms and coping strategies, or to its development and transformation, which means the formation and (or) activation of an adaptive defense system and coping strategies. In the second case, the individual manifests as a subject - an active figure who is able to consciously take responsibility for his own actions.

This study is devoted to identifying patterns in the field of the protective and adaptive structure of a person who finds himself in a special type of difficult life situation - being in a zone of active military operations using the example of the population of the territories reunited with Russia. It should be noted that this work summarizes the results of a series of scientific papers devoted to the above-described issues (among them, we highlight such works as "Psychological features of the manifestation of post-traumatic stress disorder in the civilian population of a region subjected to local military operations (on the example of Mariupol)" ^[11], "Attitude to a significant life situation, subjectivity and objectness, the risk of PTSD and sleep quality among representatives of Mariupol and St. Petersburg" ^[10], "The prevalence factor of post-traumatic stress disorders among students in Mariupol" ^[8], "Rehabilitation of survivors of shock psychological trauma using methods of deep existential psychology" ^[13]).

The purpose of our research is to identify the features of the personality's protective system in people who find themselves in a difficult life situation, using the example of Mariupol students.

The goal is specified in the following tasks:

1. Analysis and systematization of existing approaches to the study of the protective system of personality and difficult life situations;

2. Formation of theoretical and methodological foundations for the development of a model of work to improve the protective system (self-regulation) of a person in a difficult life situation.

3. Organization and conduct of an empirical study of the protective system (self-regulation) of a person in a difficult life situation.

4. Generalization and interpretation of the data obtained, their comparative analysis.

5. Development of recommendations for improving the protective system (self-regulation) of a person in a difficult life situation.

The object of the study is people who found themselves in a difficult life situation during the military operations for the liberation of Mariupol.

The subject of the study is the personality protection system of people who found themselves in a difficult life situation during the military operations for the liberation of Mariupol.

A sample of the study. The research was conducted on the basis of the Kuindzhi Mariupol State University and students from St. Petersburg. The sample consists of 206 students aged 18 to 35 years. Of these, 99 respondents represent various faculties of Mariupol State University between the ages of 18 and 35, and 107 respondents represent the Institute of Psychology of the Herzen Russian State Pedagogical University. Gender distribution: 9% male and 91% female. All the subjects voluntarily decided to participate in the study, and all of them had previously experienced the experience of being in the territory of intensive military operations in Mariupol.

The main hypotheses of the study:

1. There are significant correlations between the risk of PTSD, the specifics of the personality's defense system and its coping strategies, as well as the level of anxiety.

2. The personality protection system of people who have experience of overcoming a difficult life situation has its own specifics.

3. There are significant differences in the features of the personality protection system between residents of St. Petersburg and Mariupol.

Literature review

What does such a thing as a "difficult [difficult] life situation" mean? Its definition is given in Article 3 of Federal Law No. 195-FZ dated 10.12.1995 "On the basics of social services for the Population in the Russian Federation". Let's give this definition: "a difficult life situation is a situation that directly disrupts a person's vital activity, which he is not able to overcome on his own."

According to F.E. Vasilyuk, a complex (difficult) life situation is understood in the context of social instability, which entails experiencing stress, crisis, transformation, uncertainty and the inability to realize vital needs ^[18].

In the work of L.F. Burlachuk and E.Y. Korzhova "Psychology of life situations" this concept is defined more broadly ^[19]. We are talking about a life path as a system understood as internal and external conditions of an objective and subjective nature in the context of the unity of the situation itself and its event-based strategic content according to S.L. Rubinstein. The authors propose a model of subject-object orientations in life situations based on the phenomena of integrity and discreteness of perception.

It is obvious that actions, activities and deeds in difficult life situations are an extremely important condition for the development of a mature personality. It is in a difficult life situation that the potential for the manifestation of a subject with inner activity arises. It should be noted that prolonged difficult life situations can be a set of individual life situations in which an individual is immersed at every moment of his life. It is precisely the multi-valued chains of such interactions that constitute the entire human life activity ^[6].

It is in a difficult life situation that the personality's protective system manifests itself, developing either towards subjectivity and mature coping strategies and protective mechanisms, or towards their immature "equivalents". According to E. I. Rasskazova and T. O. Gordeeva, a significant factor in reducing the level of distress lies in the possibility of choosing between different coping strategies: the more an individual has such a choice, the more effectively he reacts to a specific difficult (stressful) life situation. At the same time, "the transition of unconscious copings into conscious ones is carried out spontaneously, as a person accumulates life and professional experience in solving problems ^[20]. A psychologist can accelerate this process with the help of psychocorrective and psychotraining methods" ^[21].

In this context, the defense mechanism is defined by us as "an unconscious attempt to escape reality through one or another variant of self-deception caused by an unconscious mental conflict (while the way to resolve this conflict is blocked by fear), an attempt that disrupts the natural functioning of the human psyche and ultimately ends in failure. In other words, the defense mechanism is an unconscious attempt to adapt and avoid resolving a mental conflict, and an attempt based on self–deception and caused by a violation of the harmonious relationship between the subject and the Other, consciousness and the unconscious" ^{[7, p. 78]}.

The protective mechanisms of personality have been the subject of study by a number of foreign scientists, primarily related to either classical psychoanalysis or its derivatives, including Z. Freud and his daughter A. Freud, as well as A. Adler, K. Horney, F. Perls, K. Menninger, R. Plutchik, M. Bond, and others. Among the Russian scientists who dealt with this issue, B. V. Zeigarnik, D. Karvasarsky, F. E. Vasilyuk, V.I. Garbuzov, F. V. Bassin, R. M. Granovskaya and others stand out ^{[7, 25]}.

In the field of psychological science, there are a large number of classifications of defense mechanisms (psychological defenses). In addition, their specific definitions are given in the DSM-IV and DSM-IV-TR, are presented in the dictionaries of Meisner and Vaillant, are determined on the Perry scale, etc. The main criterion here is based on the degree of "maturity" of the protective mechanisms used by the personality, and this approach corresponds to both the psychoanalytic school (both deep and focused onego"), and cognitive psychology. There is also no scientific consensus on the interrelation of the protective mechanisms of personality with each other, which may be due to the connection of the relevant concepts with the author's understanding of the integral structure of personality (that is, the corresponding theory of personality) and a certain difficulty in the qualitative and quantitative differentiation of the concepts of protective mechanism and mental protection. Hence the significant differences in the various classifications of protective mechanisms.

As for coping strategies (coping strategies), such figures as X stand out here. Hartmann, K. Menninger, R. Lazurus, V. Vaillant, N. Haan, S. Folkman, etc. Among the Russian psychologists are F. E. Vasilyuk, V. A. Tashlykov, B. D. Karvasarsky, E. I. Chehlaty, E. I. Kirshbaum, A. I. Eremeeva, I. R. Abitov, N. A. Sirota, V. M. Yaltonsky and others ^[1].

At the same time, and in the context of our study, the most significant stressor is shock trauma ^[22], which can become a source of PTSD ^{[17, 21, 22]}. By shock trauma, we mean any event that threatens or is perceived as a threat to the integrity, physical and psychological health of a person ^[17]. As a rule, physical and/or sexual violence, the consequences of hostilities (both for their direct participants and for the civilian population), various kinds of accidents, complex operations, etc. lead to shock trauma. A shock situation can be either short-term or prolonged, but in any case it contains powerful energy, arising, metaphorically speaking, on the verge of "life and death."

In the course of a situation leading to a shock injury, either a "fight-flight" type reaction occurs, or a freezing shock reaction is actualized. The main internal reaction to shock trauma, as a rule, is the splitting (with individual manifestations of displacement of specific fragments of experience) of the personality with the formation of a rigid barrier between consciousness and the unconscious; spiritual, social and biological; "ego" and "conglomerate "Id" and "superego", and periodic breakthroughs into the field of consciousness of the split (and partially repressed) material, including in the form of certain actions that are subconsciously perceived as defensive ^{[7, 23]}.

After a shock injury (especially if it is inflicted on an immature, including childish, psyche), all the resources of the individual are directed to saving their lives, health and integrity. Since the intensity of an event under a "shock" stress factor exceeds the adaptive capabilities of an individual, he or she is unable to experience the event in the sense of processing and appropriating it, transforming it into a part of his or her life experience: as a result, the personality fragments. Moreover, as a result of shock trauma, one's sense of self-worth (human dignity) is often blocked, as well as the ability to build and protect one's boundaries, which, by the mechanism of a vicious circle, threatens internal disintegration and leads to the blocking of the experience that caused the injury and remains traumatic automatically on an unconscious level ^{[7, 23]}.

The resulting personality structure can be described as a combination of an "outwardly normal personality" and its part related to the moment (period) of trauma, that is, an "affective personality" that includes, among other things, the individual's resources. An "outwardly normal person", using various kinds of protective mechanisms, tries to prevent traumatic memories from entering consciousness, which, nevertheless, remain a stressful factor and manifest themselves in the form of nightmares (and "flashbacks"). It can be said that ineffective coping strategies and defense mechanisms are used here due to too high stress intensity and the inability of the individual to withstand the appropriate stress.

The paper describing the results of a study conducted by one of the co-authors of this article with colleagues in Mariupol describes the following patterns identified in the relevant sample: "The relationship between the severity of signs of post–traumatic stress disorder and the predominance of the escape-avoidance coping strategy and the focus on maladaptive psychological defenses is shown" ^{[11, p. 227]}.

Adding a group of subjects from St. Petersburg to the Mariupol sample allowed us both to verify the existence of these patterns outside a specific territory and to compare the results obtained from the study of the "St. Petersburg" and "Mariupol" samples.

Methodology, materials and methods

The following methods were used in the study: the PTSD Screening Questionnaire ^[24]; the Lazarus methodology "Coping Strategies" (WCQ) (Ways of Coping Questionnaire, WCQ) adapted by L.I. Wasserman ^[1]; the questionnaire of the structure of psychological defenses (Self-Report of Defense Styles) M. Bond's adaptation by E.E. Tunik ^[25], C.D. Spielberger's scale of reactive and personal anxiety adapted by Yu.L. Khanin ^[26]; Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) ^[27].

The following methods were used in the research: testing, statistical analysis, qualitative analysis, and interpretation of the data obtained. The statistical analysis of the empirical data obtained was carried out using CPSS programs (statistical and analytical block) and included descriptive statistics procedures, calculation of correlation coefficients, and comparative analysis of contrast groups using the U-Mann–Whitney criterion.

The results of the study (R esults).

According to the results of the PTSD screening questionnaire, 46.4% (n=46) of Mariupol respondents received 6 or more points, which allows them to be classified as at risk of PTSD.

At the same time, our quantitative processing of the research materials shows that the distribution of data according to the results of the PTSD screening questionnaire (Fig. 1) differs from normal. The normality of the distribution was checked using the Shapiro-Wilkes criterion (W =0.95, p=0.0009), which indicates that the sample data deviate significantly from the normal distribution.

Fig. 1 Distribution of respondents from Mariupol according to the PTSD screening questionnaire

Fig. 1 Distribution of respondents from Mariupol according to the PTSD screening questionnaire

According to the results of the PTSD Screening Questionnaire, 38.3% (n=41) of respondents from St. Petersburg scored 6 or more points, which also allows them to be classified as at risk of PTSD. The distribution of data according to the results of the PTSD screening questionnaire in this group of respondents differs from the normal one (Fig. 2). The test for the normality of the distribution was carried out according to the Shapiro-Wilkes criterion (W =0.96, p=0.006), which indicates that the sample data deviate significantly from the normal distribution.

Fig. 2 Distribution of respondents from St. Petersburg according to the PTSD screening questionnaire

Fig. 2 Distribution of respondents from St. Petersburg according to the PTSD screening questionnaire

Table 1.

Comparative analysis of the studied indicators in the risk group for PTSD (n=46) and the control group (n=53) in Mariupol

Note: Spearman's correlation coefficients are highlighted in bold.<0,05

The results obtained allow us to record the existence of statistically significant correlations between the risk of PTSD, on the one hand, and the use of maladaptive and image-distorting personality defense mechanisms, as well as the "escape-avoidance" coping strategy and high levels of anxiety, on the other hand. On the contrary, the coping strategy of "decision planning" is significantly interrelated with the absence of risk of PTSD.

Table 2.

Comparative analysis of the studied indicators in the general risk group for PTSD (n=84) and the control group (n=122) of St. Petersburg and Mariupol

Note: Spearman's correlation coefficients are highlighted in bold.<0,05

We also identified similar patterns when analyzing the data obtained from the general sample, which included students from both Mariupol University and St. Petersburg. As can be seen from table 2, the risk of PTSD is significantly interrelated with the use of maladaptive and image-distorting protective mechanisms, as well as the coping strategy of "escape-avoidance" and "distancing", and a high level of anxiety. In addition, the absence of PTSD risk is significantly correlated with the coping strategies of "decision planning" and "positive reassessment." Separately, we note that the risk of PTSD is interrelated with the coping strategy of "taking responsibility" (the interpretation of this fact will be presented below).

Table 3.

Comparative analysis of the studied indicators in the PTSD risk group (n=46) in Mariupol and the control group (n=53) in St. Petersburg

Note: Spearman's correlation coefficients are highlighted in bold.<0,05

The presented data show that Mariupol students at risk of PTSD are characterized by significantly higher levels of anxiety, the use of maladaptive and image-distorting protective mechanisms, coping strategies of "escape-avoidance" and "distancing" than students from St. Petersburg who are not at risk of developing PTSD. In turn, the latter are characterized by a significantly higher level of self-control.

Table 4.

Correlations of coping strategies and psychological defenses in EG, Mariupol (n=46)

Note: Spearman's correlation coefficients are highlighted in bold.<0,05

As can be seen from Table 4, in Mariupol subjects at risk of PTSD, the "escape-avoidance" coping strategy is significantly interrelated with the use of maladaptive defense mechanisms, the self-control strategy with adaptive defense mechanisms, and the "taking responsibility" strategy with the defense mechanisms of "image distortion."

Table 5.

Correlations of coping strategies and psychological defenses in the CG, Mariupol, (n=53)

Note: Spearman's correlation coefficients are highlighted in bold.<0,05

If there is no risk of PSTD in the Mariupol subjects, the coping strategy of "escape-avoidance" is also associated, among other things, with maladaptive defenses.

Table 6.

Correlations of coping strategies and psychological defenses in the CG, St. Petersburg, (n=66)

Note: Spearman's correlation coefficients are highlighted in bold.<0,05

If there is no risk of PSTD in the St. Petersburg subjects, the "escape-avoidance" coping strategy is also associated, among other things, with maladaptive defenses.

Table 7.

Correlations of coping strategies and psychological defenses in the general group at risk of developing PTSD (n=84)

Note: Spearman's correlation coefficients are highlighted in bold.<0,05

In the general group of subjects at risk of PTSD, adaptive defense mechanisms are characterized by an interrelation only with the coping strategy of "self-control", which is also interconnected with maladaptive defense mechanisms. At the same time, the protective mechanisms of "escape-avoidance" and "decision planning" are also interconnected with the latter. The protective mechanisms of "image distortion" in this group are interrelated with the coping strategy of "taking responsibility."

Table 8.

Correlations of coping strategies and psychological defenses in the general group without risk of developing PTSD (n=122)

Note: Spearman's correlation coefficients are highlighted in bold.<0,05

In the general group of subjects without the risk of PTSD, the use of adaptive defense mechanisms is interrelated with almost all coping strategies, except for "confrontation" and "distancing". The use of maladaptive defense mechanisms is also interrelated with almost all coping strategies, except for "self-control" and "seeking social support." In addition, the use of image-distorting protective mechanisms is interrelated with the coping strategy of "confrontation".

Table 9

Significantly significant differences in coping strategies and psychological defenses in groups at risk of developing PTSD in St. Petersburg and Mariupol (n=87)

As can be seen from the data presented in Table 9, image-distorting protective mechanisms are used significantly more often in the group of Mariupol subjects at risk of PTSD than in the group of subjects from St. Petersburg at risk of PTSD. At the same time, the level of personal and situational anxiety, as well as the risk indicators of PTSD themselves, is significantly higher in St. Petersburg.

Table 10.

Significantly significant differences in coping strategies and psychological defenses in groups without risk of developing PTSD in St. Petersburg and Mariupol (n=119)

As can be seen from their data in Table 10, in the absence of a risk of PTSD, subjects from Mariupol are significantly less likely to use image-distorting protective mechanisms and coping strategies of confrontation.

Table 11

Comparative analysis of sleep disorders in the risk of developing PTSD (n=84) and the control group (n=122) of St. Petersburg and Mariupol

Thus, the risk of developing PTSD is obviously associated with such indicators of sleep disorders as nightmares (to a special extent), a feeling of "falling down", insomnia.

In addition, an analysis of the responses to the author's questionnaire showed that 32.3% of the subjects from both St. Petersburg and Mariupol were aware of the connection between the dream content and the physiological state of their body.

Discussion

The data obtained by us in the study of a combined sample of subjects from both Mariupol and St. Petersburg confirm the preliminary conclusions made in the article "Psychological features of the manifestation of post-traumatic stress disorder in the civilian population of the region subjected to local military operations (using the example of Mariupol)" ^[11].

Let us recall these conclusions: "The results obtained in the study confirm the hypothesis put forward about the relationship between the risk of developing PTSD and impaired personality functioning. The data obtained can be explained from a psychodynamic point of view. Thus, for respondents with pronounced signs of PTSD, a coping strategy comes to the fore, leading to a recurring cycle of neurotic conflict — the "escape–avoidance" strategy. Maladaptive and image-distorting defenses are also noted in this group. Recall that weakly adaptive (ineffective) psychological defenses are unconsciously used ways to minimize stressful factors that do not lead to effective interactions with other people and the environment, as well as minimize human desires and aspirations (for example, splitting, denial, idealization/devaluation, projective identification, somatization, regression, hypochondria, etc.) ^{[11, p. 225]}. In addition, "when using maladaptive defenses, an individual's behavior manifests an inability to effectively self-regulate and conduct creative activities, as well as an orientation towards receptive behavior, which is obviously combined with a strategy of actual escape from reality, that is, with "escape–avoidance" ^{[11, p. 225]}.

Thus, it can be argued that the relationship between a violation of the functioning of the personality's protective system and being at risk of PTSD (and, accordingly, the experience of being in a difficult life situation) does exist. The functioning of the protective system of a psychologically traumatized personality can be overloaded due to the intervention of the "archaic superego", which leads to hyperresponsibility syndrome (see data from Table 2), as an immature side of the "self-control" strategy. This is manifested, among other things, in an increased level of anxiety.

In turn, the personality's protective system in the absence of the risk of PTSD is characterized by significantly greater internal integration, realistic self-perception, adaptability, and significantly lower levels of anxiety than with the risk of PTSD.

Hence, the validity of our earlier conclusion follows: "Based on the data obtained in the framework of psychocorrection and (or) psychological psychotherapy of persons exposed to stressful factors <...>, it is recommended to work taking into account the high probability of their using maladaptive defense mechanisms, as well as the "escape-avoidance" strategy ^{[11, p. 227]}.

At the same time, when processing the data from the PTSD screening questionnaire (subjects with a score of 6 or higher were in the risk group), we did not find significant differences between the risk of PTSD among the subjects from Mariupol and St. Petersburg, and, moreover, the overall risk of PTSD and anxiety levels in the group of subjects from St. Petersburg, as it appears from table 9, significantly higher. On the one hand, this may be due to the high degree of overcoming the effects of a traumatic situation due to the personality development of young people living in Mariupol, who are mostly involved in Russian civilization ^[9] and, accordingly, tend to give a positive meaning to the events that occurred in 2022 within their framework ^[8], which forms creative "vital anchors" ^[28]. On the other hand, it should be noted that in Mariupol, the subjects were equally distributed among the faculties of this university, whereas in St. Petersburg they all belonged to students of the Institute of Psychology, and their choice of a future profession may be related to the personal need to work out certain psychological traumas that arose in a particular difficult life situation. which may be associated with an increased risk of developing PTSD.

At the same time, we were able to identify that at-risk subjects from Mariupol are significantly more likely than those in the same group from St. Petersburg to use image-distorting protective mechanisms. When comparing subjects who are not in the risk group, the ratio between Mariupol and St. Petersburg is the opposite: these protective mechanisms are used more often in the city on the Neva. In this regard, it can be assumed that when pressure is exerted on the personality's protective system of a particular injury, especially a shock injury, the psyche, one way or another, departs from reality, and in Mariupol, whose residents were exposed to shock trauma, this pattern is especially evident precisely in the case of the risk of PTSD. In the case of a person overcoming the consequences of trauma, which can now occur en masse in Mariupol, whose population gives a positive meaning to the events taking place, the subject begins to perceive himself and reality adequately, and even more so than individuals who have not gone through a traumatic shock experience. This meaning manifests itself even in small things: a person begins to appreciate "every ray of sunshine and every sip of coffee."

This conclusion is consistent with the following data: among psychology students in Mariupol, the risk of PTSD was identified in 29.5% ^[8]. It is possible that a meaningful experience of shock trauma, combined with an increased sense of belonging and, consequently, leading a person to a professional path as a psychologist, causes a significant decrease in the likelihood of developing PTSD in Mariupol, whereas in St. Petersburg the choice of profession is largely due to traumatic experience.

Conclusions

So, our hypotheses have been confirmed. In particular, the data obtained in the framework of the preliminary study on the significance of the relationship between the risk of developing PTSD (as a consequence of getting into a difficult life situation, especially in the case of shock trauma) and the "deformation" of the personality's defense system towards the use of immature and maladaptive defense mechanisms and coping strategies are confirmed and systematized.

This pattern requires psychological psychotherapy and (or) psychocorrection of people who have fallen into difficult life situations and have been subjected to psychological trauma to take into account their high level of anxiety and the corresponding pressure of tendencies towards hyperresponsibility, painful self-control and urges to "escape" from awareness of reality and productive solutions to certain problems. Also, the "escape-avoidance" strategy, combined with the risk of PTSD, high anxiety, and the use of maladaptive defense mechanisms, may indicate the likelihood of a person experiencing shock trauma and a high degree of violation of the integrity (integration) of the personality.

It should be noted that the data we obtained earlier ^[11] were also confirmed in terms of the fact that the risk of developing PTSD is obviously associated with such indicators of sleep disorders as nightmares (to a special extent), insomnia, and a feeling of "falling down".

In addition, an analysis of the responses to the author's questionnaire showed that 32.3% of the subjects from both St. Petersburg and Mariupol were aware of the connection between the dream content and the physiological state of their body. In the sample of subjects from Mariupol, this indicator was 23%. Thus, we have received a new confirmation of the adequacy of Pigarev's visceral theory of sleep ^[29].

At the same time, giving positive meaning to traumatic events and personal perspectives in Mariupol is highly likely to be one of the basic (if not the basic) factors for overcoming the consequences of PTSD, getting out of a difficult life situation, restoring a healthy, adaptive protection of the personality system and adequate perception of reality ^{[8, 9, 30]}. This may explain the absence of differences in the overall risk of PTSD in Mariupol and St. Petersburg.

At the same time, getting "stuck" in trauma is more severe for residents of Mariupol who have experience in a combat zone than for residents of St. Petersburg, which is consistent with the results of our other study ^[10].

It should also be noted that working with dream material is very promising both in terms of eliminating the symptoms accompanying the effects of excessive stress, and in terms of restoring the overall integrity of the personality, which is combined with the data we received earlier ^{[10, 12, 14]}.

Conclusion and recommendations

The above conclusions, in our opinion, directly indicate the high potential of the effectiveness of the existential approach in psychocorrection and psychological psychotherapy when working with people who have fallen into a difficult life situation and are at risk of developing PTSD. It is also important to emphasize that the acquisition of a real personal meaning of initially traumatic events in the context of overcoming their influence, in many ways, as the "Mariupol case" shows, is associated with the restoration of the internal "connection of time", starting with family and ending with ethno-cultural and civic identities, and the acquisition of subjectivity by a person ^{[8, 9, 10, 11, 13]}. The restoration of the "connection of times" is directly due to the success of work in the "coordinate system" of intergenerational transmission of psychologically significant information ^[31], which, in turn, implies the use of methods and techniques of depth psychology, including psychology of dreams ^{[10, 12, 14, 15]} as a tool for development and (or) psychocorrection (psychotherapy) personalities, again, precisely in the existential context ^[13].

Based on the above, we formulate the following recommendations:

1) In psychocorrection and psychological-psychotherapeutic work with people at high risk of developing PTSD, the use of an existential approach is especially shown, implying, first of all, the meaningful development of inner subjectivity as a life orientation.;

2) In this context, it is appropriate to study in depth the maladaptive (self-belittling) protective mechanisms of personality with access to a healthy, responsible self-perception and, consequently, effective coping strategies.;

3) It is appropriate to combine this approach with work on semantic aspects and accents of personally significant and (or) historical events (especially in the territories reunited in Russia);

4) In many cases, the effectiveness of this work can be significantly enhanced by referring to the material of dreams.

The prospects for further research are aimed at clarifying the relevant differences between students from Mariupol and other settlements that have been reunited with Russia, studying a sample of students from St. Petersburg who are not studying Psychology, as well as analyzing the effectiveness of certain methods in relation to different categories of recipients of psychological assistance.