Israeli research: the October 7 trauma also affects the body

What did the research reveal?

The results indicate a significant decrease in the prevalence of PTSD (from 17.8% to 8.2%) and CPTSD (from 13.1% to 9.3%) between the first sample and the second sample after one year, however the rates of prolonged grief remained almost unchanged (about 4%). Most participants exhibited a pattern of mental resilience, meaning they did not develop persistent disorders, but some experienced chronic symptoms, late onset, or switching between PTSD symptom diagnoses.

The participants who presented chronic or persistent patterns suffered significantly more from symptoms of somatization (mental distress expressed in physical pain 12) and physical pain, mainly dull pain or muscle cramps, compared to those who showed recovery or mental resilience. This phenomenon was found both in those who were directly exposed to the events of October 7 and in those who experienced the events indirectly, which indicates the strength of the impact of Collective trauma.

What does it mean?

The researchers explain that while PTSD and CPTSD symptoms can change over time, prolonged PTSD is characterized by high stability and may persist even under conditions of continuous threat. “This finding reinforces the need for the development of unique therapeutic solutions for complex grief. Furthermore, the clear connection between mental distress and physical suffering emphasizes the importance of offering integrated mental and physical care, for populations living in the reality of ongoing trauma,” the researchers tell Ma’ariv and recommend the integration of psychological assessment in pain clinics and primary care, in order to identify people at risk earlier.

The study provides a rare glimpse into the dynamics of mental disorders during a period of ongoing trauma, and emphasizes that the trauma does not end only in the mind, it is also registered in the body and requires a health system that treats both dimensions together. Prof. Yiffit Levin explains: “As someone who has been researching trauma for years, and as part of a family that has experienced the toll of war on the body and mind and even the toll of loss, for me this research is far beyond academic work. October 7 touched me directly and personally, like many others, and when I read the data I saw in them not only numbers but faces and stories of people who live in this upheaval every day.”

Prof. Levin adds: “In my opinion, the great innovation in the research is that it finally clearly presents what many of us feel from the inside: that the trauma does not leave the body just because time passes. It continues to exist in us, sometimes silently, sometimes through unrelenting physical pain. Therefore, I found it extremely important to bring this voice to the health care system so that we see the whole person, both the mental pain and the physical pain, and we can really reach out. Our work is human and moral. It is Came to remind the health system that trauma does not heal on its own.”