News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) Stress and anxiety caused by living under the ongoing threat of rocket attacks has tremendously impacted the kids of Sderot. Research by Dr. Ruth Pat-Hornchik of the Center for Treatment of Psychotrauma at the Herzog Hospital in Jerusalem showed that 45 percent of the town’s children under the age of six suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) which is expressed through developmental regression, sleeping disorders or aggression.

Amongst adults, the data indicated that 41 percent of mothers and 33 percent of fathers suffer from PTSD, often experience flashbacks, and avoid places that remind them of rocket attacks. Parents reported that about 60 percent of infants refuse to sleep alone. The study discovered that the traumatized children often returned to using a bottle, wetting their bed, and were afraid of bathing or going to sleep by themselves.