An agreement has been signed at Israel's Defense Ministry that will allow for the establishment of a national center to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the country's soldiers.
Since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, PTSD, depression, and anxiety rates in Israel have risen at striking rates.
The creation of the center comes following a generous donation from the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) organization in the US, and its establishment in Israel is to be done by the Sheba Medical Center in collaboration with the Disabled Veterans IDF organization.
The agreement was signed at the Ministry of Defense by the ministry's Deputy Director and Head of Planning, Itamar Graf, along with FIDF Chairman Morey Levovitz, FIDF US National Director Nadav Padan, and Director General of Sheba Medical Center Professor Yitshak Kreiss.
What will the center do once established?
The goal of the agreement signed at the Defense Ministry is to allow for the creation of mental health treatment centers around the country, as well as in IDF facilities. However, the emphasis of this initiative will be to create centers in Israel's North and South. This initiative comes after the demand for further government aid for IDF soldiers.
These centers will treat individuals in Israel's Defense Force along with their family members, who are also considered part of the rehabilitation initiative during the Israel-Hamas war.
It is expected that the establishment of these centers will significantly enhance the country's public health system's ability to respond to PTSD victims.
It is planned that the center will be involved in the training of further practitioners who will receive the expertise and professional tools that are required for trauma treatment.
These tools are expected to include innovative new technology involving medical simulation from The Israel Center for Medical Simulation (MSR), which is known for its employment of advanced simulation-based training modalities proven to be highly effective.