Traumatic Stress and Its Specificity in Life-Threatening Disease

Abstract

The article is devoted to the theoretical analysis of the stressor «life–threatening disease» features and the systematization of the actual traumatic stress symptoms caused by its influence. The relevance of studying this problem is associated with the emergence of new, but unsystematized information about the long-term psychological consequences of the impact of a serious illness on the human condition. The general line and the purpose of the study was the comparison of the intense and traumatic stress signs, and the determination of their specificity under the influence of the stressor «life–threatening disease». The methodological and theoretical principles of problem analysis are determined on the basis of the approach of N. V. Tarabrina to understanding the phenomenology of post–traumatic stress and construction a psychological model of PTS. Results: the article describes the characteristics of the life event «life–threatening disease», determines the stages of its manifestation, singles out a separate stressor associated with informing a person about a severe diagnosis. Signs of intense stress are represented by a number of categories denoting emotional states ¾ fright, fear, guilt, helplessness, etc. The symptoms of traumatic stress are analyzed, indicating a violation of the mechanism of identity integration, construction of a picture of the world, perception of a time perspective, denial of illness and restrictions. Explicit and implicit resources for coping with psychotraumatic experiences are determined. The theoretical provisions of the approach presented in the article are illustrated by the data of empirical studies conducted by domestic and foreign scientists. The conclusions summarize data on the characteristics of the stressor «life-threatening disease», the specifics of the traumatic stress caused by it, explicit and implicit coping resources.