Combat Stress in Military Personnel: Theory, Genesis, Prevention, and Control

On February 24, 2022, the Russian-Ukrainian war began, in which hundreds of thousands of military personnel are participating. Almost all military personnel experience combat stress. In our opinion, the most fully reflecting the occurrence of stress in humans, including combat stress in military personnel, is the conservation of resource theory proposed by S. Hobfoll. According to this theory, stress occurs when: central or key resources (health, well-being, family, self-esteem, and a sense of purpose and meaning in life) are threatened with loss, are lost, or cannot be retrieved following significant effort. Combat stress in military personnel can manifest itself in the form of negative manifestations of the psychological, physical, psychophysiological, and behavioral register. The most effective system for the prevention and control of combat stress among military personnel was developed in the US Army. Such a program should contain medical and psychological work activities carried out in three stages: preparatory (before performing combat missions), the stage of direct performance of tasks in the combat zone, and the final stage (after completing tasks upon returning to permanent deployment points).