The Directorate of Defence Research & Development at the Defense Ministry has issued a call for technologies and treatments to help soldiers, families, and the army as a whole quickly diagnose and effectively treat post-battle PTSD, anxiety, and other related mental ailments.
As the call itself notes, this effort comes due to a surge in mental health issues arising from months of intensive combat in the Gaza Strip, and aims to treat the problems as quickly and effectively as possible.
According to Defense Ministry statistics, and as of January 25, 2024, some 4,600 IDF soldiers have been wounded since October 7, with about 60 wounded being added every day and 20% suffering from mental ailments such as PTSD, according to reporting by Calcalist.
The IDF has also developed an app containing a simple psychological test meant to help prevent soldiers from developing PTSD when they go into combat.
The app, called Keshev Kravi or "Combat Attention," is based on research done at Tel Aviv University on soldiers who fought in Operation Protective Edge in 2014.
The idea is simple: soldiers who try and divert attention from threats are at a higher risk of developing PTSD, according to the Protective Edge study and subsequent replications.
So, the app trains soldiers to look directly at something threatening a number of times to train their brain to not look away. Users of the app are given two faces to look at - one angry and one neutral. A red dot will appear, which the user must press as quickly as possible.
To ensure that users get used to looking at the unpleasant, angry picture, which simulates a threat, the red dot generally appears on the picture of the angry face.
