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Photo: IDF Spokesperson
Stats show low integration of PTSD victims in workforce
Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee discusses worrying trends among soldiers suffering from post trauma after Operation Protective Edge, with unemployment rates among victims double compared with those those unaffected.
The Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee convened Tuesday morning to discuss worrying statistics regarding soldiers suffering from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after fighting in Operation Protective Edge in 2014.
Currently, the stats show that the Defense Ministry is providing assistance to 4,649 soldiers who are suffering from PTSD but that their integration into the workforce, or lack thereof, is a cause for concern.
During the discussions of the committee, which is led by MK Avi Dichter (Likud), members were shown a trend illustrating that the unemployment rate among PTSD victims is double to those who do not suffer from the phenomenon in Israel’s population.
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Twenty-four percent of those recognized by the state as sufferers are out of work while 12% of them only work in jobs on a part time basis.
Head of the Defense Ministry's Rehabilitation Department, Brigadier General (res.) Hazi Mashita, said during the discussions: “We are working to make improvements all the time in order to make the recognition process more efficient for people affected.”
Together with the IDF, he continued, “we are taking steps in order to increase awareness among discharged soldiers about the phenomenon of PTSD and ways to treat it.”
He also pointed out that 40% of those who suffered from PTSD as a result of Protective Edge are studying in courses funded by the Defense Ministry. Committee members also pointed out that methods for dealing with PTSD in the IDF have undergone widescale reforms.
For example, the Defense Ministry provides counseling for people injured in the war and their spouses to help them improve their marital communication. Moreover, groups are created by the ministry for parents of post-trauma victims.
