Data from the NTL association (victims of trauma on a national background), demonstrate over 33,000 citizens who contacted the telephone helpline since the beginning of the war. The line was reinforced, is still reinforced and operates 24/7 to provide assistance and mental support to citizens who seek help. This figure is 1.5 times more than the total number of calls received on the lines in the entire year of 2022. During the first week of fighting there was an increase of about 6000% percent in the number of references to the lines. Starting from the morning of the surprise attack and the first moments of the disaster, the residents of the south called and whispered into the phone that they could hear the terrorists inside the house and called for help.
Feeling stressed and anxious due to the situation? The numbers of the various help lines
During the period, the family members of the injured and missing, the families of the kidnapped and the bereaved families also contacted by phone in need of assistance and emotional support. Also, families of reservists, who care and care for their family members, applied. Netal reveals another interesting figure, today about 60% of the calls on the line are received by men, a significant leap from before the fighting. It is possible that the increase is related to the intense operational activity and the massive release of the forces in general and the reservists in particular.
For example: C was drafted on 7.10 into the reserves and lived in Kibbutz Bari and then in the outskirts of Khan Younis. He was released from reserve at the beginning of February, after months of hard fighting. C is married with children and returned home after a difficult period, and among other things his best friend was injured. He turned to the helpline after he felt that he needed tools to deal with great mental distress and constant depression. Another reservist who was released after five months of fighting, also turned to the helpline of Netal after the release. He felt that he needed tools to deal with and adapt back to the new routine life and work routine.
The Natal Association treats victims of terrorism and war and all the circles that surround them, including those whom the state does not recognize as eligible to receive psychological assistance. The association subsidizes the treatments (to the point of providing assistance without financial compensation). It works to raise awareness of the "transparent injury", which trauma victims of terrorism and war carry, and which is not visible to the eye.
The helpline of NTL is the "emergency room" of the association, through which those who apply for further treatment in the clinical unit are transferred for individual clinical treatment, which is an additional service that the association provides. Today, the following are treated in the clinical unit: the survivors of the parties and the circles surrounding them, bereaved families from the disaster areas, the families of the abductees, and those dealing with post-trauma who were treated in the unit before the war and whose condition has worsened by the current situation, and some of them have now been called up for reserve service.
Before October 7, there were about 100 therapists in the clinical unit nationwide, mainly in the central region. After October 7, the clinical unit changed its face and began to face an unprecedented reality. The department received many inquiries through a variety of channels – from the aid line, from organizations that took care of the survivors of the party, from the Ministry of Defense, from universities, military associations and more.
About 35% of the patients in the clinical unit are reservists, another 30% are survivors of the 'Nova' party, about 14% are residents of the Otaf and evacuees, the rest are traumas from the past, general anxiety and 1% families of abductees. The mix of patients has changed completely, before the war most of the patients were from the central region, and today there are hundreds of patients from the southern and northern regions. Even in terms of age, the mix shows a change from the situation before the war. Today, the largest age group treated is 20-30 years old (44%). 26% aged 30-50, 6% aged 50 and over.
As a result, Natal tripled the number of therapists in the clinical unit and trained hundreds of additional therapists. Today there are 350 therapists in a much wider nationwide distribution than before the war. The data shows that until now about 2500 patients have been treated in the clinical unit, while before the war there were only about 300 This is an increase of over 700%.
Another service that the association provides is employment support. The association explains: "Those who have experienced acute trauma directly can find it difficult to return to a normal and intensive work routine, which requires resistance to pressure and a time frame, concentration and attention." Since the beginning of the war, about 155 participants received a response with occupational/educational support, this is an increase of about 40% in the number of patients in the unit. In addition, webinars and lectures were held on the effects of war and traumatic events on work performance.
The community resilience unit of the association has also seen an increase in activity. The department routinely works to strengthen resilience in Israeli society, through work with public and business organizations, and provides employees and managers with tools to strengthen resilience, deal with anxiety and stress, and prevent long-term effects. The main activity these days is with the reserve servants.
Since the beginning of the war, over 2,000 workshops have been held to deal with trauma and emergency situations. The interventions include: trainings and trainings, community projects and resilience workshops for the reserve servants and support meetings for the survivors of the party (and their parents). Unique professional training and support was given to the "first responders", i.e. rescue teams, medicine, paramedics, body identification teams and more.
For over 25 years, the NTL association has been providing mental aid to those who have fought and cared for their wounded comrades and even lost others and since then the nightmares at night do not let up, to those who witnessed a terrorist incident and since then every noise makes them jump and to those children who live in conflict zones and are afraid to leave the house for fear of an incendiary balloon flying in the air , but as mentioned, such an unusual order of magnitude of inquiries from the public that indicates distress has not yet been experienced.
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