Post Traumatic Stress Disorder’s grave consequences came into sharp focus during July 2025, when four IDF Gaza veterans took their own lives.
The latest suicide victim, reservist Ariel Meir Taman, was found dead at his home in southern Israel, according to an IDF statement. The Military Police Criminal Investigation Division is investigating the circumstances of his death. Once concluded, the findings will be transferred for review by the Military Advocate General.
Earlier that month, a paratrooper in training attempted to take his own life at the brigade’s training base. The IDF reported that he was seriously injured and evacuated for medical treatment at a hospital.
A day before that, a regular service IDF soldier from the Nahal Brigade took his own life at a military base in the Golan Heights. He was a combat soldier who had fought in Gaza during the war. A week prior, Daniel Edri z”l, a reservist who lost his two best friends at the Nova festival and was discharged from reserve duty after a year, also took his own life. Another soldier, whose name has not been released, was found lifeless a week before that.
According to data published by the IDF at the beginning of the year, 21 soldiers died by suicide in 2024, compared to 17 the previous year — the highest numbers since 2011. The data indicate that most of the soldiers who took their own lives last year were reservists.
Professor Yossi Levi-Belz, head of the Lior Tzefati Center for Suicide and Mental Pain Research at Ruppin Academic Center, believes these suicides are the tip of the iceberg. “When society starts returning to normal, many individuals — such as reservist soldiers — remain in a heightened state of vulnerability because the intensity of their struggles doesn’t subside, and they continue to deal with post-trauma,” he said.
“Acute crisis periods increase the sense of belonging (‘we’re all in the same boat’), which fosters connection, closeness, and interpersonal bonds. But as time passes and the crisis becomes more distant, those feelings of belonging and connection slowly fade, and in their place comes a painful sense of loneliness. When a person feels alone in their distress, the risk of suicide increases,” he added.
Contractors in Gaza
The acute crisis/normalcy transition is especially harsh for reservists and private military contractors who deploy for brief periods and then almost immediately return to civilian life. This haunting scene of an Iraq War veteran shopping for groceries illustrates the issues these individuals face. This jarring transition, along with the horrors of the Gaza War, is simply too much for many PTSD veterans to take.
This issue hits close to home for many American private military contractors who are in Gaza, mostly to oversee aid distribution, provide security, and basically show Palestinians that someone cares about them and they aren’t simply pawns on a chessboard.
Seemingly, everyone has an agenda in places like Gaza. But contractors are different. They do their jobs and go home.
Overseeing aid distribution may be the most critical job for contractors in Gaza. A distressingly low amount of medical and other relief supplies reaches the intended recipients. Thieves seize much of this aid for one reason or another. The more supplies reach needy people, the better life becomes for these families. It’s a one-to-one ratio.
In America, most people don’t know what it feels like to walk across the street and not feel safe. For most of us, violence and crime are headlines on the evening news. But for Gazans, violence and crime are everywhere. A small group of contractors at an intersection may be the most powerful deterrent force available.
The Nature of PTSD
Thankfully, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder does not always end in suicide. But this condition is always a physical injury, a fact which makes these victims eligible for Defense Base Act benefits. More on that below.
Extreme stress alters brain chemistry. In this context, this stress is usually a combination of combat stress and the stress of returning home and acting like nothing happened. The one-two punch often causes complicated PTSD and/or comorbid PTSD.
Complicated PTSD is the cumulative effect of stress. This cumulative effect shrinks the hippocampus, a process that enlarges the amygdala. In plain English, the part of the brain that controls emotional responses overwhelms the logical response center. This imbalance causes symptoms like:
- Hypervigilance,
- Depression,
- Flashbacks,
- Anger, and
- Nightmares.
Sometimes, a pre-existing condition contributes to complicated PTSD, such as a prior car crash or other stressful situation. A Defense Base Act lawyer can obtain maximum benefits in these cases.
To deal with the aforementioned symptoms, many PTSD victims self-medicate with alcohol and drugs. This self-medication causes comorbid PTSD. Alcohol and drugs numb the senses but don’t address PTSD. As a result, the victim has two disorders (PTSD and substance addiction) instead of one. Therefore, comorbid PTSD treatment is a long, expensive, and uncertain process.
PTSD and the DBA
Since PTSD is a physical injury and not a random psychological “disorder,” DBA benefits, such as lost wage replacement and medical bill payment, are available.
The injury or illness must also occur under qualifying circumstances. The victim must be a private military contractor who was deployed in an overseas war zone.
Most DBA victims were under contract with a U.S. government agency, such as the State Department or DoD. However, victims under contract with some sympathetic foreign governments are also eligible for benefits. An overseas territory is usually anywhere outside the continental United States, except Alaska and Hawaii. Any official U.S. military presence, such as a Marine guard in an embassy, transforms the overseas territory into a war zone.
For more information about Defense Base Act benefits, contact Barnett, Lerner, Karsen, Frankel & Castro, P.A.