Psychological Mechanisms and Mental Health in the Face of Current Conflicts and Crises

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Background

In the past two years, humanity has been confronted with unprecedented crises, most recently the war in Ukraine. The flood of related media reports, as well as refugee flows, the looming energy shortage, and individual fear of expansion of the conflict, has forced the war into reality and has been made part of our everyday lives. Against this backdrop, the psychological impact and implications become apparent.

At the core of such an event, it is members of the armed forces and their families who must find ways to deal with the experiences and their consequences. In addition, it is also essential to consider the affected population, who suffer directly from the war, are exposed to propaganda, and whose morale, willpower, and resilience influence the direction in which the conflict develops. In this context, how the individual deals with such events are of paramount importance. For example, a certain war fatigue among the population of European countries can lead to a decline in idealistic, but also material support. These psychological aspects also play a role for members of humanitarian organizations (or similar groupings) that are involved in a supporting capacity or in conflict management who in turn must face specific mental challenges. This raises the fundamental question of how psychological knowledge and respective methods can contribute to preventing and ending such conflicts.

It is also important to acknowledge that the war also affects the decision-making and behavior of organizations and individuals who are not directly involved. For example, European armed forces are increasing their budgets and adapting their doctrine, training content, or equipment. Furthermore, the media and correspondingly the questions of managing perception take on a central role.

The aim of this Research Topic is to share conceptual insights, current research, and practical guidelines to develop successful strategies during times of conflict and related global challenges. Specifically, this Research Topic will focus on successful strategies implemented at any level - individual, national, regional, and global. To achieve this, this collection welcomes Original Research, Brief Research Reports, Systematic Reviews, and Policy and Practice Reviews. Submissions may address theoretical, methodological, and practical issues using quantitative and qualitative methodologies, big data analytics, and individual and global case studies, with a particular interest in contributions that include, but are not limited to, the following themes:

• The role and relevance of morale in warfighting;
• Psychological support of service members;
• Psychological training of health care providers;
• Measuring and fostering resilience of service members, civilians, units, groups, and communities;
• Models and methods of aiding the civilian population and the national leaders;
• Countering mass propaganda in both the Ukraine and Russia;
• Psychological aspects of mediating in conflicts;
• Specific mental and moral challenges for mediators and ways to cope with this stress.

Keywords: global challenges, mental health, well-being, best practices, operational psychology, resilience, post-traumatic growth

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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