Mental Fitness

Mental Fitness is a learned and conservable competency which is a product of the social, emotional, cognitive, and physiological capacities of a person or a group to cope successfully with mental challenges. The mental fitness branch is part of the Well Being Department in the medical core IDF.

The goals of the Mental Fitness Branch are - Improving operational efficiency by enhancing soldiers’ mental fitness and resistance to stress-related psychopathology and Promoting research, development, and implementation of evidence-based, scientifically, and technologically advanced, training applications and techniques.

During the 4 years the branch has developed several applications and techniques which are aimed at three challenges or threats – Adjustment, Trauma and Burnout, which are typical to the different phases of the military service.

Examples of this applications/techniques:

I C O V E R - Rapid peer-based intervention for team members experiencing acute stress.

Attention bias modification training - ABM training modifies attention towards threat. Includes four 7-minute sessions. Was found to reduce PTSD symptoms and enhance performance.

Inner strength Positive Psychology - a virtual tutorial aimed at training the soldier in the 5 virtues of Positive Psychology: Hope, Gratitude, Love, Curiosity and Enthusiasm.

Decompression treks – Back to the Future - Closure and processing of the military experience. Combat soldiers take part in a 5-day trek focusing on: Personal and team resilience. Processing military experiences (combat, social conflicts) Preparation to civilian life (how to write CV, how to find a job, Choosing a career…)

Research highlights:

Attention Bias Modification Training – follow-up studies on the effect of computerized cognitive training intended to shift soldiers’ attention towards threat.

Moral injury – a longitudinal study on the effects of exposure to potentially morally injurious events on suicidal ideation and behaviors, psychopathology, and adjustment to civilian life among combat veterans.

Subterranean warfare – psychological aspects of underground operations

Studies on mindfulness training, burnout and empathy among roadblock combatants

Virtual reality – the use of computerized VR scenarios for enhancing mental fitness and prevention of stress-related trauma

Sense of Coherence – various studies examining SOC as a predictor of operational functioning, well-being, psychopathology, burnout, and musculoskeletal injuries