Ministry of Defense: PTSD accounts for 29% of all neurological diseases suffered by military personnel

The number of Ukrainian military personnel with stress-related neuralgic diseases is gradually increasing. At the same time, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) accounts for 29% of these diseases.

Oksana Sukhorukova, head of the Department of Health Protection of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, stated this.

The Ministry of Defense predicts that the share of PTSD among the military will only increase. Therefore, the department is actively working on creating a system of psychological support and assistance for military personnel.

Sukhorukova emphasized that psychological support and assistance should be provided to military personnel at all stages of service. In particular, she outlined four main stages of psychological help:

• self-help or assistance based on the principle of "equal to equal";
• crisis interventions;
• psychological development points at a safe distance from the front line;
• long-term psychological help.

Special attention should be paid to the support of servicemen returning from captivity and their families, Sukhorukova noted.

• According to the National Health Service of Ukraine, in 2023 the number of PTSD patients in Ukraine increased almost four times compared to 2021. And in the first two months of 2024, almost the same number of patients were diagnosed as in the whole of 2021.