Providing First Psychological AId to Students Who Are in a State of Acute Stress Due to Military Actions in Ukraine

Any crisis phenomena - natural disasters, accidents, catastrophes, armed conflicts - lead to social and psychological consequences that disrupt the normal course of students' lives. When a student is threatened, the natural reaction to such a change in the usual environment is stress - a state of physical and/or psychological arousal. It is difficult to overestimate the importance of psychological first aid in emergency situations. The tasks of psychological first aid: to ensure safety, basic needs, information and communication, to provide an opportunity to express oneself and calm down, to show techniques for overcoming stress. The sympathy and support that a student who has fallen into terrible trouble may feel largely depend on how hard and long he will experience this trauma in the future. Psychological First Aid is designed for students who are in a state of stress as a result of a recent or current crisis. However, not everyone who has experienced a crisis needs or wants psychological first aid. There is no need to provide help to those who do not want it, but it is always necessary to be close to those who may need support. There are situations where students need much more serious assistance than psychological first aid, including: students with serious, life- threatening injuries who require emergency medical care; students with a psychological disorder that prevents them from taking care of themselves. They may harm themselves or others; students with mental health problems; students with disabilities may need special assistance to get to a safe place and medical care. Psychological first aid should be provided upon first contact with students who are in a state of stress. This usually occurs during or immediately after the event, but sometimes several days or weeks later, depending on how long the event lasted and how traumatic it was for the students.