The holiday of Purim is approaching and with it the widespread phenomenon of exploding pop-ups and firecrackers by the youth.
But apart from the danger to boys and children, many others suffer from the noise of the explosion, as well as the noise of the fireworks, which bring them back to the difficult experiences of the past.
These are mainly IDF soldiers and victims of hostilities who are dealing with battle shock and trauma.
These fighters and civilians often close themselves in their homes for the holiday of Purim or for the Independence Day fireworks because of the great difficulty in containing the heavy noise.
In order to better understand what they are going through, we spoke with Idan Kaliman, chairman of the IDF Disabled People's Organization and with Dr. Nira Kaplansky, director of the line at the Israel Defense Forces.
Idan Kliman, chairman of the IDF Disabled Organization, explains that "People suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder experience a significant state of arousal and intrusiveness. Every unusual sound triggers them and brings them back to the events that caused them the reality of post-traumatic stress disorder. I have been a therapist for more than For 20 years, hundreds of soldiers have been fighting and I know that any minor event in reality can produce an unusual event for them and throw them completely off balance."
Explodes for Purim, photo: Dodi Vaaknin/Archive
"It's true, children love to use explosives. We all played with explosives as children because in our time there was no awareness of warriors suffering from post-trauma. We didn't know what it did to those heroic warriors, but loud sounds and the sounds of explosions bring the warrior back in his mind to that founding event, which caused him post-trauma. If we cherish the soldiers who fought for all of us and who are currently suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, then we have to give it up for them.
"I want to wish the entire public in Israel a happy and united Purim holiday, that we know how to think of each other during the holiday and that we find ways to incorporate the post-traumatic into our parties and events. So that they too can enjoy it with all of us. It is appropriate that we be a society that considers all those who have been hurt," he concludes.
Chairman of the IDF Disabled Organization.
Ido Kaliman, photography: Aviran Waldman
Dr. Nira Kaplansky is a line manager at the Israel Defense Forces, and expands more on the meaning of the experience of soldiers and civilians who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.
According to her, "For those who suffer from this disease, any simulated noise wakes them up, they have a significant sensitivity to noises. This is a part of the brain that does not separate the explosion on Purim from the explosion that the fighter or victim of hostilities experiences at the time. From the point of view of the brain, a completely identical physiological reaction is created."
Kaplansky explains that "therefore, every innocent jump brings the encounter back to the very moment of the terrible trauma. Therefore, in fact, the body simply has a hard time containing the event. What happens to the post-traumatic is that, due to the inability to contain, he experiences anxiety attacks or he enters a state of high alertness without control Because of the explosion."
Dr. Nira Kaplansky, photo: self-portrait
"You have to remember that it's about the sense of hearing and it's not the eyes that can be closed. That's why the noise of explosions or the noise of fireworks on Yom Kippur is very disturbing to the Lomi Krav. You should also know that for the Lomi Krav the very knowledge that there is going to be a time or event with explosions, the very knowledge even before hearing The explosions cause them anxiety and it puts them into post-trauma already," she says.
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