THE SOLDIER'S PHANTOM EYE: FROM MEDICAL-PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL SYMPTOMS TO OPTIMISTIC HORIZONS OF BEING

Abstract

The scientific article focuses on the psychology of the behavior of soldiers who lost their eyes in the war. The function of vision as a key channel for the orientation of a soldier's personality in the world around them is outlined. It has been established that vision is not only the fundamental basis of the meaning of human life, but also a key tool for cognition, reflection, memories and spiritual growth of the individual.By clarifying the features of the soldier's phantom eye, the authors of the publication establish possible causes leading to eye amputation, describe symptoms and develop optimal ways of psychophysiological support for people with anophthalmia. It has been found that phantom eye pain is caused, induced and exacerbated by a number of physical factors, in particular, changes in climate, atmospheric (arterial pressure). A number of relationships have been established between phantom eye pain and the etiology of amputation and pre-amputation pain. A relationship has been found between the duration of pre-amputation eye pain and the severity of chronic phantom eye pain.It has been found that phantom visual hallucinations in soldiers with amputated eyes usually occur within a few days after the event that caused anophthalmia. A significant percentage of those studied note that their “phantom eye” continues to respond to certain emotional arousals, in particular, it radiates fear, anger, sadness, despair, contempt, joy, and also “gets tired” in conditions of complete darkness, “needs rest” after prolonged aiming, blinks and even tears.It has been established that the inexhaustible coping resource of soldiers who lost their sight in the war is military black humor, which contributes to the improvement of the adaptive properties of the personality, acts as a means of overcoming confusion, helplessness, a mechanism of psychological protection and a form of holistic reflection.