Keywords
internally displaced persons
clinical and psychopathological structure
anhedonia
wartime
How to Cite
Abstract
In press
The ongoing war in Ukraine has led to an increased prevalence of affective disorders, requiring a deeper understanding of their clinical characteristics with consideration of gender aspects and Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) status. The aim of the study was to determine the features of clinical and psychopathological structure of affective disorders in individuals who did not change their place of residence and in IDPs during wartime. The study involved 148 individuals with affective disorders, divided into two groups: 83 individuals (48 women and 35 men) who did not change their place of residence due to military actions; and 65 IDPs (36 women and 29 men). Clinical-psychopathological and psychodiagnostic methods were applied using a series of standardized clinical symptom assessment scales. As a result of the study, symptoms were identified in both groups, the most common of which were depressed mood and affect of sadness, feelings of internal tension, narrowing of interests, and feelings of worthlessness. Clear gender differences were established in the emotional component of depression: men predominantly experienced grief, diurnal mood fluctuations, indifference, fears, and intrusive memories; women manifested ideas of self-blame, feelings of guilt and worthlessness, psychomotor retardation, increased vulnerability, and tendency to tearfulness. Four clinical variants of depressive symptomatology with gender specificity were identified: in men, melancholic and senesto-hypochondriacal variants predominated, while in women, anxious and astheno-apathetic variants dominated. In the IDP group, a higher level of anhedonia was observed in both men and women, as well as greater vulnerability of male IDPs to developing severe depressive episodes. It was concluded that affective disorders have clear gender specificity, which persists regardless of internal displacement status.
Keywords: depression, internally displaced persons, clinical and psychopathological structure, anhedonia, wartime.
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