Last week, the IDF reported that 14 soldiers committed suicide during the year 2022, no less than nine of them came "in one way or another interaction" with an army mental health officer.
However, it is not certain how significant and effective that "interaction" with the military was, since the burden on the mental health system in the army is unreasonable, especially in the post-corona era, during which many soldiers enlist with mental difficulties that are not easy in light of the difficult times they have gone through, and Nim reports that they "manage risks" in the mental treatment of soldiers.
Several soldiers testified that the military personnel encourage them to continue psychological treatment at their own expense as citizens, and even suggest that they take medication instead of receiving mental health treatment.
The accountants are forced to "manage risks"
To the credit of the head of the Technology and Logistics Division (ATL), Major General Michel Yanko, it can be said that he is aware of the problem and is trying to solve it. Major Yanko, who is known in the IDF as "the bulldozer", in view of the fact that after many years of neglect, he succeeds in making revolutions in the fields of service conditions of the soldiers (food, infrastructure, medicine, etc.), has already announced that he intends to address the problem, to recruit more soldiers to the service through incentives and to monitor closely through digital systems the time that elapses between a soldier's application for a meeting with a soldier and the actual holding of that meeting.
Soldiers: After an initial meeting with Kban, we are offered a meeting no more than once a month with Kban.
No one can be treated like this seriously
But the IDF inspectors report an unusual and unreasonable workload.
Even if they meet the time set for a meeting with a soldier who requests a permanent residence permit - up to about a month from the soldier's application - due to a lack of time, they explain that they perform "risk management", and if they estimate that the soldier's condition is not very serious, they do not treat him frequently and weekly. Fighting soldiers Today, they have to wait about two weeks until they meet at the Kban from the moment they ask for help, soldiers on the home front will wait on average about a month, and soldiers in training will wait about 3 weeks.
Champion Michel Janko.
"The bulldozer", photo: IDF spokesman
Soldiers, for their part, also complain about very long queues for military personnel, and also point out that in many cases, after an initial meeting with military personnel, they are offered a meeting no more than once a month with military personnel (and by all accounts this cannot be treated seriously) , or they are encouraged to meet with a private psychologist as a citizen at their own expense, and in fact at the expense of their parents. In some cases, soldiers reported that soldiers pointed out to them that they were very busy and therefore could not treat them, and suggested that they meet with a psychiatrist and start taking medication to help them cope mentally .
Discontent with the terms of employment
The Kabanim, for their part, are also very resentful of their terms of employment. For the most part, the Kabanim in the IDF are "returnees", that is, after being released from the IDF they studied psychology or social work as a civilian, and returned to military service as Kabanim. However, according to The "new" permanent model (which is not so new anymore), if at the age of 35 they are not promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel, the IDF must immediately release them from military service, and not allow them to serve until retirement age, and this even if there is a shortage of crutches. Nim and there is a difficulty in recruiting soldiers for military service.
Kabanim: due to a severe lack of time we must manage risks. If we estimate that the soldier's condition is not very serious, we will not treat him frequently and weekly
It is not clear how, in an era of such an unusual burden on the mental health system in the IDF, when many of the soldiers enlisting in the army suffer from various problems due to the effects of the corona closures, the IDF intends to continue to maintain the mental health system when on the one hand the burden on the soldiers is unreasonable , and on the other hand, due to the permanent model imposed on the IDF, the army fires those who agreed to return to service and work under difficult conditions.
Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi. The IDF intends to continue to maintain the formation, photo: Gideon Markovich
IDF response
An IDF spokesperson stated: "The IDF takes the phenomenon of suicide very seriously and invests a lot of resources in eradicating it. The commanders of the units, in cooperation with mental health officials and personnel officials, are working day and night in order to provide a supportive and healthy service environment for all servicemen and to reduce the scope of the phenomenon. The effects of the corona epidemic , began to be investigated with the outbreak of the epidemic and the medical corps continues to monitor them. It is not possible to clearly link the unfortunate cases that happened in the past year to the epidemic or its effects.
IDF Spokesman: "It is not possible to make a clear connection between the unfortunate incidents that happened in the last year and the Corona epidemic or its effects"
"ATL and the Medical Corps have been leading a number of moves in recent years to improve the availability of mental health providers and to increase the supply of appointments.
Among other things, a spatial operating concept was adopted as part of 'Medicine for you', which contributes to load regulation, as well as dedicated training for young commanders.
For the first time in decades, as part of 'Medicine for you', 18 additional military personnel standards were standardized, which will be recruited and deployed according to the loads in the IDF.
In terms of recruiting returnees, the IDF is dealing with the national distress that exists in the social worker market. The Medical Corps is working to improve the service conditions of the conscripts and offers service programs and professional training, which make the terms of employment in the IDF more attractive."
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