New Article: Barzilai et al, Characteristics of Trauma Casualties in the Gaza Strip and Other Combat Regions

Barzilai, L., M. Harats, I. Wiser, O. Weissman, N. Domniz, E. Glassberg, D. Stavrou, I. Zilinsky, E. Winkler, J. Hiak. “Characteristics of Improvised Explosive Device Trauma Casualties in the Gaza Strip and Other Combat Regions: The Israeli Experience.” Wounds 27.8 (2015): 209-14.

 
URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26284374

 
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Low-intensity conflict is characterized in asymmetrical conventional and nonconventional warfare. The use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has evolved over the past few decades to include the addition of diesel, biological agents, shrapnel, and nitroglycerin to the explosive content. Due to its nature and mechanism, an IED injury might present as a multidimensional injury, impairing numerous systems and organs.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The authors present a case series of 5 Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers wounded by an IED presenting a typical and similar pattern of burns to their faces, trunks, and limbs, in addition to ocular, ear/nose/throat, and orthopedic injuries. An analysis of the experience in treating the aforementioned injuries is included.

RESULTS: Improvement in casualties’ burns and traumatic tattoos was observed following debridement, aggressive scrubbing with or without dermabrasion, and conservative local dressing treatment protocol. The authors found a positive correlation between improvement degree and treatment timing. Injury pattern was correlative to the protective gear worn by the soldiers. Wearing protective eye gear and wearing ceramic vests can diminish the extent of IED injuries, while creating typical patterns of injuries to be treated.

CONCLUSION: Based on these experiences, such injuries should be brought to a trauma center as soon as possible. Treating multidimensional trauma should be done in a facility with abilities to treat head injuries, eye injuries, penetrating injuries, blast injuries, and burns. Such specialized disciplines and facilities that have past experience with IEDs and war injuries are able to assess and treat these injuries in a more dedicated manner, resulting in better long-term rehabilitation.
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New Article: Nakash et al, Primary Mental Health Prevention Themes in Published Research and Academic Programs in Israel

Nakash, Ora, Liat Razon, and Itzhak Levav. “Primary Mental Health Prevention Themes in Published Research and Academic Programs in Israel.” Israel Journal of Health Policy Research (early view; online first).

 

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/2045-4015-4-3

 

Abstract
Background

The World Health Organization Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan (CMHAP) 2013–2020 proposes the implementation of primary prevention strategies to reduce the mental health burden of disease. The extent to which Israeli academic programs and published research adhere to the principles spelled out by the CMHAP is unknown.

Objective

To investigate the presence of mental health primary prevention themes in published research and academic programs in Israel.

Methods

We searched for mental health primary prevention themes in: (1) three major journals of psychiatry and social sciences during the years 2001–2012; (2) university graduate programs in psychology, social work and medicine in leading universities for the academic year of 2011–2012; and (3) doctoral and master’s theses approved in psychology and social work departments in five universities between the years 2007–2012.

We used a liberal definition of primary prevention to guide the above identification of themes, including those related to theory, methods or research information of direct or indirect application in practice.

Results

Of the 934 articles published in the three journals, 7.2%, n = 67, addressed primary prevention. Of the 899 courses in the 19 graduate programs 5.2%, n = 47, elective courses addressed primary prevention. Of the 1960 approved doctoral and master’s theses 6.2%, n = 123, addressed primary prevention. Only 11 (4.7%) articles, 5 (0.6%) courses, and 5 (0.3%) doctoral and master’s theses addressed primary prevention directly.

Conclusions

The psychiatric reform currently implemented in Israel and WHO CMHAP call for novel policies and course of action in all levels of prevention, including primary prevention. Yet, the latter is rarely a component of mental health education and research activities. The baseline we drew could serve to evaluate future progress in the field.
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New Article: Israel-Cohen et al, Gratitude and PTSD Symptoms among Israeli Youth Exposed to Missile Attacks

Israel-Cohen, Yael, Florina Uzefovsky, Gabriela Kashy-Rosenbaum, and Oren Kaplan. “Gratitude and PTSD Symptoms among Israeli Youth Exposed to Missile Attacks: Examining the Mediation of Positive and Negative Affect and Life Satisfaction.” Journal of Positive Psychology 10.2 (2015): 99-106.

 

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2014.927910

 

Abstract

Based on a sample of Israeli adolescents living in a city which was under missile attack 2½ months prior to this study, we examined the possible affective and cognitive mechanisms through which gratitude may serve as a protective factor against PTSD symptoms. Specifically, we focused on how this process might be mediated by positive affect, negative affect, and life satisfaction. These are widely understood as the emotional and cognitive components of subjective well-being and have each been significantly associated with gratitude and with pathology in the literature. Using pathway analysis, our findings revealed that life satisfaction and negative affect, but not positive affect, mediated the relationship between gratitude and PTSD symptoms. Our study suggests that gratitude may serve as a protective factor primarily through cognitive appraisal processes tied to greater appreciation of life in a way that distinguishes it from other positive emotions.

 

New Article: Gil et al, Risk Factors for DSM 5 PTSD Symptoms in Israeli Civilians

Gil, Sharon, Michael Weinberg, Keren Or-Chen, and Hila Harel. “Risk Factors for DSM 5 PTSD Symptoms in Israeli Civilians during the Gaza War.” Brain and Behavior 5.4 (2015).

 

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/brb3.316

 

Abstract

Background

In light of the current modifications presented in the diagnostic criteria of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the DSM 5, this study aimed at revalidating well-known PTSD risk factors, including gender, peritraumatic dissociation, social support, level of threat, and trait tendency for forgiveness.

Method

Five hundred and one Israeli civilians were assessed during real-time exposure to missile and rocket fire at the eruption of the Gaza war. Assessments took place approximately one to 2 weeks after the beginning of this military operation, relying on web administration of the study, which allowed simultaneous data collection from respondents in the three regions in Israel that were under attack.

Results

A structural equation model design revealed that higher levels of forgiveness toward situations were associated with fewer PTSD symptoms, whereas peritraumatic dissociation and high levels of objective and subjective threat were positively associated with PTSD symptoms. Additionally, females were at higher risk for PTSD symptoms than males.

Conclusions

The findings of this study provide further evidence for the importance of directing preventive attention to those vulnerable to the development of elevated levels of PTSD symptoms. Theoretical and clinical implications of the findings are discussed.

New Book: Friedman-Peleg, A Nation on the Couch. The Politics of Trauma in Israel (in Hebrew)

פרידמן-פלג, קרן. העם על הספה. הפוליטיקה של הטראומה בישראל, ספריית אשכולות. ירושלים: מאגנס, 2014.

 

 

URL: http://www.magnespress.co.il/

 

Abstract

This book is an invitation to observe the practice of one of the most dominant communities in Israel, and yet one of its most closed ones: the therapeutic community. Through a four-year anthropological field work (2004-2008) among two of the most prominent associations in Israel – Natal (“Israel’s Trauma Center for Victims of Terror and War”) and the “Israel Trauma Coalition” – the chapters of this book trace the inevitable intersection between professional questions of clinical diagnosis, treatment and prevention of PTSD in the context of the Israeli-Arab conflict with political question of group identity and power relations: what differences exist between therapists on the meaning of traumatic experiences and its moral boundaries? What consensus is reached regarding practices of aid and funds allocation, and what is the connection between it and the questions of group identity; including political, ethnic, and social class aspects?

This ethnographic journey will shed light on the development of politics around the therapeutic practice of trauma in two sequential instances: (1) the institutional instance will address the establishment of a new therapeutic home, through the extraordinary juncture of therapists, donors and advertisers; (2) the professional instance will present the branching of four circles of therapeutic occupation of trauma: the “clinical core” among soldiers; the practice of the tense relationship between “primary” trauma of a man and the “secondary” trauma of a woman, his spouse; the growing distance from the “clinical mothership,” for the sake of intervention among “risk groups” from Be’er-Sheva in the South to Daliyat al-Karmel in the north; and the emphasis on the prevention of trauma, through activities such as “strength and immunity” in Sderot. These examinations will demonstrate how the therapeutic practice is far from representing a single objective reality with a clear professional truth. Instead, it will reveal the existence of a polyphonic and multi-participant network of reciprocities surrounding the therapeutic practice of trauma, between various social locations and diverse worldviews.