We should have no delusions: The National Tragedy that befell Our People on October 7th—The Holy Day of Simchat Torah—will leave us with much to unpack from a psychological perspective.
It doesn’t matter if you are one of the tens-of-thousands who were physically located in the communities of Southern Israel during the massacres or are merely one of the millions of people who have born witness to the horrorific testimonies of those who were present: this has been a trauma that our minds, bodies, and souls will not easily forget.
As a psychiatrist who has been seeing patients here in Israel for close to a decade, I encourage my patients to remember that each of us has the capacity to be Resilient—to demonstrate psychological toughness. For certain people, this task is easier due to their genetics and prior experiences both good and bad. And yet for everyone, there are specific things that we can do to “bounce back” stronger from this tragedy. Beyond the basics of maintaining a daily schedule with regular exercise, sobriety, and enough sleep, I suggest the following:
1–Utilize Family and Community Support—maintaining continuous contact with your support network is critical to muster the strength you need. Talking about it and disclosing the trauma to loved ones is a healthy behavior as opposed to keeping it bottled up.
2-Positive Re-Framing—identifying as a survivor as opposed to a victim allows our brain to view things through a healthier lens. Keeping the great history of The Jewish People in mind can also provide solace and perspective for many at this time. We must attach ourselves to the optimistic truth that The Nation of Israel WILL prevail.
3-Mindfulness and Spirituality—checking in with yourself in order to accept the intense emotions we are all feeling is essential. For many people, this is done through daily mindfulness and meditation, for others it is part of personal prayer and an active discussion with G-d.
4-Give Back to Stay Strong—We are all called to serve, each of us in our own way with the skills we’ve been blessed with. Supporting others in our community through their own healing process fosters the belief that one can manage their own distress. It also normalizes the grieving we are all going through.
I encourage my colleagues in the field of medicine as well as other mental health professionals to remind our patients that intense emotional reactions are normal right now. Being sad, scared, and angry are appropriate feelings that we can use to process our traumatic experiences as well as to grow from them. Offering a prospective of safety and optimism—through a technique called cognitive restructuring—is critical for our patients as we remind them that the vast majority of us will experience a full recovery.
For people that are experiencing severe symptoms—such as intrusive thoughts, dissociation, avoidance, and sleep disturbances—I encourage referrals to professional support networks and crisis intervention services such as those run by Relief Resources, Amudim Israel, Chai Lifeline, and other great organizations in our community.
I’ll close with a brief thought: I couldn’t be more proud to be a Jew living here in Israel these days. To see how special our people are, I’ll just share a moment I had with my dear friend and colleague Yair who is a social worker based in Jerusalem. Over the past decade, we’ve worked side-by-side to help well over a hundred patients together and it’s certain that Yair’s professionalism is only matched by his dedication to his clients.
To cut to the chase: like well over 300,000 other men and women, Yair is currently in active military duty as a reservist in The Israel Defense Forces. When I reached out to check in with him and to thank him for his service, Yair told me, “We’ve got to stand up, with G-d’s help, to protect our people and our land. Thanks for taking care of our patients; tell them I’ll be home as soon as I can.”
If this isn’t dedication—on some many different levels—then I don’t know what is. You’re darn right I’m proud to be Jewish with people like him on our team.
Am Yisrael Chai.
