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Psychological Help for the Injured Servicemen Experiencing Phantom Pains

Received: 03 September 2019    Accepted: 30 March 2020    Published: 28 April 2020
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Abstract

The article deals with the peculiarities of the functioning of the servicemen’s psyche, who have lost their limbs as a result of combat injury and are experiencing phantom pain. It was found out that the mental state of a serviceman, who has suffered a traumatic limb amputation, can be identified with a state of acute grief. The peculiarities of psychological help for the injured servicemen, combatants, experiencing phantom pains, were investigated. The consequences of staying in extreme situations were described. The fact of amputation leads to the collapse of all life prospects of a serviceman, a reassessment of one's self, a significant decrease in the level of harassment and often to the loss of the meaning of life. The problems faced by the servicemen after returning from the zone of anti-terrorist operation were revealed. Post-amputation phantom pain was reported in 69% of left-sided and 31% of right-sided amputations. It was found out, that the patient, who is feeling the amputated limb, continues to consider it a complete organ, but with pain. Presence of pain intensifies the feeling, that the lost limb was not damaged. Phantom pain is localised in a special form of expression - a symbol and is irradiating. The main directions of psychotherapy in the work with servicemen were outlined, examples of methods of the mirror therapy for overcoming phantom pains were given.

DOI 10.11648/j.ss.20200903.11
Published in Social Sciences (Volume 9, Issue 3, June 2020)

This article belongs to the Special Issue Social Development

Page(s) 61-66
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Phantom Pain, Injury, Mirror Therapy, Stress, Psychological Injury

References
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[2] Foell J., Bekrater-Bodmann R., Flor H., Cole J. (2011). Phantom limb pain after lower limb trauma origins and treatments. International Journal of Lower Extremity Wounds, Vol. 10, no. 4, 224–235.
[3] Frankl, V. (2001). Theory and therapy of neurosis. Preliminaries to logotherapy and existential analysis (pp. 55-59).
[4] Halligan, P. (2002). Phantom limbs: The body in mind. Cognitive Neuropsychiatry (7th ed., pp. 251-269).
[5] Hmilar, O. (2016). Post-traumatic stress disorder: features of diagnosis and its signs in the participants of ATO. The Technologies Of The Development Of The Intelect, 2 (3), 18.
[6] Hmilar, O., Krasnytska, O., & Os'odlo, V. (2017). Military-psychological workbook for an officer (p. 93). Kyiv: Ivan Chernyakhovsky National Defence University of Ukraine.
[7] Hmilar, O., Os'odlo, V., & Krasnyts'ka, O. (2017). Military-psychological practiсal book for the officer (p. 91). Kyiv: Ivan Chernyakhovsky National Defence University of Ukraine.
[8] Jutzeler C. R., Curt A., Kramer J. L. K. (2015). Relationship between chronic pain and brain reorganization after deafferentation: a systematic review of functional MRI findings. NeuroImage: Clinical, Vol. 9, 599–606.
[9] Korolchuk, M., Korolchuk, V., & Kulazhenko, A. (2014). Psychological peculiarities of the long-term effects of stress: monograph (p. 276). Kyiv National University of Trade and Economics.
[10] Manoylenko T. S., Dorokhina A. M., Tsyzh O. V., Revenko I. L. (2019). Stan zdorovya narodu Ukrayiny ta medychnoyi dopomohy tretyoho rivnya: Derzhavna ustanova «Natsional'niy naukoviy tsentr «Instytut kardiolohiyi imeni akademika M. D. Strazheska». Posibnyk. Kyiv, 24–26; 92–94.
[11] Os`odlo, V., & Hmilar, O. (2012). Military Psychology and Pedagogy: Innovative Approach (1st ed., p. 472). Kyiv: Ivan Chernyakhovsky National Defence University of Ukraine.
[12] Raygorodskyi, D. (2002). Practical psychodiagnostics. Methods and tests. (p. 672). Samara: "Bahram-m."
[13] The actual problems of the psyhologіcal help, socіal and medico-psyhologіcal rehabіlіtatiom of the partakers of ATO. (2016). In the Interdepartmental scientific-practical conference. Kyiv.
[14] Workbook for the post-traumatic stress disorder self-management program (PTSD) for military. (2015) (p. 49). Odessa.
[15] Xaver F., Flor H., Bekrater-Bodmann R. (2018). Psychological Factors Associated with Phantom Limb Pain: A Review of Recent Findings. Pain Research & Management. Vol 2018. 10.1155/2018/5080123.
Author Information
  • Department of Social Sciences, Ivan Chernyakhovsky National Defense University of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine

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    Khmiliar Oleh Fedorovych. (2020). Psychological Help for the Injured Servicemen Experiencing Phantom Pains. Social Sciences, 9(3), 61-66. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20200903.11

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    Khmiliar Oleh Fedorovych. Psychological Help for the Injured Servicemen Experiencing Phantom Pains. Soc. Sci. 2020, 9(3), 61-66. doi: 10.11648/j.ss.20200903.11

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    AMA Style

    Khmiliar Oleh Fedorovych. Psychological Help for the Injured Servicemen Experiencing Phantom Pains. Soc Sci. 2020;9(3):61-66. doi: 10.11648/j.ss.20200903.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ss.20200903.11,
      author = {Khmiliar Oleh Fedorovych},
      title = {Psychological Help for the Injured Servicemen Experiencing Phantom Pains},
      journal = {Social Sciences},
      volume = {9},
      number = {3},
      pages = {61-66},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ss.20200903.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20200903.11},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ss.20200903.11},
      abstract = {The article deals with the peculiarities of the functioning of the servicemen’s psyche, who have lost their limbs as a result of combat injury and are experiencing phantom pain. It was found out that the mental state of a serviceman, who has suffered a traumatic limb amputation, can be identified with a state of acute grief. The peculiarities of psychological help for the injured servicemen, combatants, experiencing phantom pains, were investigated. The consequences of staying in extreme situations were described. The fact of amputation leads to the collapse of all life prospects of a serviceman, a reassessment of one's self, a significant decrease in the level of harassment and often to the loss of the meaning of life. The problems faced by the servicemen after returning from the zone of anti-terrorist operation were revealed. Post-amputation phantom pain was reported in 69% of left-sided and 31% of right-sided amputations. It was found out, that the patient, who is feeling the amputated limb, continues to consider it a complete organ, but with pain. Presence of pain intensifies the feeling, that the lost limb was not damaged. Phantom pain is localised in a special form of expression - a symbol and is irradiating. The main directions of psychotherapy in the work with servicemen were outlined, examples of methods of the mirror therapy for overcoming phantom pains were given.},
     year = {2020}
    }
    

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    T1  - Psychological Help for the Injured Servicemen Experiencing Phantom Pains
    AU  - Khmiliar Oleh Fedorovych
    Y1  - 2020/04/28
    PY  - 2020
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    AB  - The article deals with the peculiarities of the functioning of the servicemen’s psyche, who have lost their limbs as a result of combat injury and are experiencing phantom pain. It was found out that the mental state of a serviceman, who has suffered a traumatic limb amputation, can be identified with a state of acute grief. The peculiarities of psychological help for the injured servicemen, combatants, experiencing phantom pains, were investigated. The consequences of staying in extreme situations were described. The fact of amputation leads to the collapse of all life prospects of a serviceman, a reassessment of one's self, a significant decrease in the level of harassment and often to the loss of the meaning of life. The problems faced by the servicemen after returning from the zone of anti-terrorist operation were revealed. Post-amputation phantom pain was reported in 69% of left-sided and 31% of right-sided amputations. It was found out, that the patient, who is feeling the amputated limb, continues to consider it a complete organ, but with pain. Presence of pain intensifies the feeling, that the lost limb was not damaged. Phantom pain is localised in a special form of expression - a symbol and is irradiating. The main directions of psychotherapy in the work with servicemen were outlined, examples of methods of the mirror therapy for overcoming phantom pains were given.
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