Sat 16 March 2024:

Thousands of Israeli soldiers are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder or other combat trauma, according to the head of the army’s mental health department.At least 1,000 of these soldiers have been diagnosed with “acute distress disorder”, department head Colonel Lucian Tatsa-Laur told Israeli newspaper TheMarker.

With the mental health decline, more and more soldiers are refusing to return to the battlefield after being granted temporary leave, a trend that is challenging army operations, said Tatsa-Laur.

“As a psychiatrist, I wish I had a magic wand that could make this whole period disappear,” he said.

30,000 Israel soldiers treated for mental health

Around 30,000 Israeli soldiers have called up a mental health hotline since the outbreak of the Gaza Strip on 7 October, according to the army, Anadolu Agency reports.

A military statement said that around 85 per cent of the soldiers who sought psychological treatment had returned to active duty.

“Around 200 soldiers were discharged from the army due to the psychological problems they suffered from the war”, it added.

The Israeli army’s Medical Corps plans to inaugurate a new mental health centre for soldiers on Thursday, amid fears of troops developing post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the Gaza war.

The new mental health centre will include a clinic to treat PTSD among troops, the army said.

On 2 February, Yekhiel Levechitz, the head of the army’s clinical department for mental illnesses, said around 3,000 soldiers had been examined by mental health experts since 7 October.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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