In the video: The funeral of Sha'ar Hanegev Mayor Ofir Liebstein/Photo: Shlomi Gabbay
News 13 correspondent Almog Boker, who lives near the Gaza Strip, published a post on social networks on Thursday revealing that since the shocking terrorist attack on October 7, he has suffered from panic attacks and has returned to psychological treatment.
"I returned to therapy the other day," Booker wrote. "Psychological therapy. I thought that as long as the war was going on and I was working, there was really no need. Everything is fine. But every night, when darkness falls, I fall apart. And every night that passes it gets worse. The last two days have been a nightmare. Falling asleep for an hour, then waking up from a bad dream with a terrible panic attack. A nightmare that was the reality for hundreds of my friends last Saturday. Stories I've heard that are taking over.
Stood up sweating, terrified. Then for a long hour when everything is black and you feel enclosed within four walls and can't escape outside. A feeling that this is the end. The end of the world.
"And it's not something new to me. Panic attacks - this is something I have been dealing with for 5 years. I usually beat them. But this time fails to cope. Even an episode of Friends (my favorite show, my escape from the seizure) doesn't help. He beats me. Seizure. And the other day, I decided that's it – I went back to talking to a professional and it does wonders. We dismantled Black Saturday together. The fear of us, of me, of my children and of my wife who are sitting in the safe room, the messages I received from friends who hear the terrorists inside the house and cry out for help, those I managed to direct forces to and survived, and those who didn't – and they are no longer with us. Friends and friends that I've been feeling for 12 days, that I have a part in the fact that they didn't survive."
Coral Boker/Screenshot, Reshet 13
"We dismantled the first few hours together, from the barrages of rockets that bounced me out of bed to the phone call during which you realize for the first time that the terrorists are occupying your envelope. And also the moments when I stop the broadcast for a moment in order to gather information and then Ayelet my wife comes to demand my welfare and I fall apart. Crying like a child. Helpless. I know that the people I just spoke to won't survive and there's nothing you can do. I call security personnel I know, Mada paramedics, the most senior officials in the system, and everyone, we are all helpless.
"We broke it down together. And after that, I'm back on my feet. Stronger (but died of fear of the night). And I'm sharing now because I hear that residents of the envelope, men, women and children, are ashamed to go for treatment. Don't be shy. It saves lives. It will save you and save your children. That way you will know how to mediate to them the horrors we experienced here. And help them get back on their feet. Dismantle what's on your heart. Unpack what you experienced on that terrible day.
Fall apart. The caregivers are the angels and angels who saved me in the past and they will also save you. Go to therapy."
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