Leveraging Wellness for Mental Health: How Israel and Hamas Seek to Heal Their Communities

As the situation in Israel and Gaza continues to unfold, many people far from the conflict are nonetheless exposed to countless images, stories and sounds of conflict via television and radio news reports, newspaper and digital stories, and of course social media.

The American Psychological Association released a statement this week warning that consuming violent and traumatic news can in and of itself negatively affect our mental health. These impacts are also being felt by people around the world who have families and friends in the region, as well as those concerned about the effects of war.

“It’s horrific — it’s beyond the usual human experience of seeing human-to-human violence — in such a way, and it intrudes in their mind such that they can’t concentrate at work, such that they can’t fall asleep at night. And it’s distressing. And that causes an overall arousal in the brain and then in the body.”

Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.