At a ynet and Yedioth Ahronoth conference with the Histadrut, held Monday under the title "State in Post-Traumatic Stress, How Do We Move Forward From Here?", family members of people suffering from PTSD described how the crisis has spread beyond the direct victims to parents, spouses and siblings. The event came after three years of growing mental health strain, following the October 7 attacks and the wars with Lebanon and Iran, affecting survivors of the massacre, evacuees, bereaved families, soldiers and civilians.
Ronen, who lost his wife Rafaela and his son Roy, said Roy took his own life after grieving the death of his partner, Mefal Adam. Roy was found dead in a burned car near Poleg Beach in Netanya shortly after posting online that he "can’t go on" and asking forgiveness. Ronen said Roy had recovered from being shot twice in the back, but "the mental injury was very severe," and added that the trauma also reached his daughter Lior, a survivor of the massacre. He said he spent nearly two years supporting them, gave up work and much of his life, and later was diagnosed with PTSD himself after going to the scene.
Ronen is also fighting for official recognition of Rafaela’s death as an act of terrorism. He said people do not understand digital trauma, noting that more than 8,000 parents of Nova partygoers experienced it. "Rafaela was in that state when she was in contact with the two children, and she collapsed from it," he said.
Dr. Lilach Rahamim, a clinical and medical psychologist and chair of the Families Committee at the National Council for PTSD in the Health Ministry, said parents face unbearable helplessness when they cannot help their child and are themselves wounded. She said PTSD involves brain injury and is often not properly assessed, leaving people without the right treatment. Rahamim also said there are still problems of legislation and recognition, and that family members are effectively carrying the care burden at home while struggling with work, finances and isolation.
Elinor Gaz, whose husband has combat PTSD and 50% disability, said their family life has been consumed by fear and constant supervision. She described checking on him in the morning to make sure he had not harmed himself, and said he has been almost without treatment for about six months while waiting for care. "Everything is on me," she said. "Who is looking at me and helping me?" Rahamim said Israel is trying to expand treatment settings, including balanced homes, hospitals, clinics and resilience centers, in order to bring in prolonged exposure therapy, a U.S.-developed method that she said research shows works for combat trauma.
