Israeli trauma psychologist visits Australia
Ben-David said her research is focused on assessing those at risk of developing PTSD.
Chief Psychologist at Hadassah Medical Centre Dr Shiri Ben-David was recently in Australia to share insights on mental health in the aftermath of October 7, 2023, including the latest research in trauma care at Hadassah and a study on antisemitism in the UK that aims to promote wellbeing in Diaspora communities.
“Most Israelis have gone through a traumatic event once or more,” Ben-David said, “whether being in the Gaza envelope … on October 7, or being a soldier … or your house being attacked by missile, having to go to shelter.”
She said that most people experience traumatic events without suffering post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but around 20 per cent will develop PTSD.
Trauma can also result in other mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety that are not PTSD – which Hadassah also treats. Hadassah operates three campuses with psychologists at each hospital – Mount Scopus, Ein Kerem and Bet Shemesh.
Ben-David said her research is focused on assessing those at risk of developing PTSD. “We identified ‘learnt helplessness’ as a risk factor in developing PTSD,” she said. ‘Learnt helplessness’ occurs when individuals learn they cannot defend themselves or cope with challenges. Her research found a link between cognitive biases and learnt helplessness, such as paying attention to negative cues.
“We are learning how to change the focus so it can either be on the positive or neutral aspects of what’s happened to you,” she said.
Regarding the impact of traumatic events on Israeli children, Ben-David said that there are “studies beginning now, but we’ll only see the results in a long time”.
“We are currently in the middle of trauma, which means that a lot of the therapy that we would like to provide is irrelevant now. People are in survival mode, they’re not emotionally available to process what they went through,” she expressed.
She said much therapy for adults and children involves building a narrative of coping where “one had control over things”.
Asked how she coped with the challenges of being a psychologist hearing stories of trauma, and as a mother raising her children while her husband serves in the army, she shared, “I became resilient.”
On whether Israel is providing enough mental health support to meet the need, Ben-David said, “There are not enough mental health professionals in Israel, and the ones that there are, are not all working in the public service … We’re trying to recruit people from private practice to go back to working in [public] hospitals and institutions … We’re also training new personnel in working with acute trauma and working with integrated approaches to the treatment of trauma.”
As to how the Australian Jewish community can offer support, Ben-David said, “I know that there are great mental health professionals here in the Jewish community in Australia … we can use their support by providing supervision and training to our personnel.” She added, “We don’t have enough rooms in the hospital … so any funding of this can make a real change.”
Australian philanthropists have generously supported Hadassah which has led to the state-of-the-art Gandel Rehabilitation Centre and Smorgon Families’ Foundation Healing Garden.
Her advice to the Australian Jewish community amid rising antisemitism is to connect to community. “Our research in the UK Jewish community found that social support is a highly protective factor against developing PTSD and depression. And there is a very strong Jewish community here,” she said.
Hadassah plans to launch a similar research project in Australia.
To support Hadassah or visit Hadassah contact info@hadassahaustralia.org