Maxim Herkin, Shlomi Ziv tell military medics how they maintained mental health in Hamas captivity

Speaking at the first national military medicine conference at Bar-Ilan University, released hostages Maxim Herkin and Shlomi Ziv describe their efforts to maintain their mental health while in Hamas captivity.

Herkin, who was held captive for two years in Gaza, tells the audience of about 900 people, mostly from the IDF Medical Corps, that he told himself, “Every day, every moment is a gift,” adding that “only faith gave me strength.”

“Sometimes when another captive was depressed, “we told each other, ‘it will be okay,'” Herkin says.

“It was very hard,” says Ziv, who was one of four hostages rescued on June 8, 2024, in a mission in which Yamam officer and team leader Arnon Zamora was killed. Ziv points to a tattoo on his arm and reads it out loud: “PTSD is for life and I live with it.”

Ziv, who was a Border Police squad commander during a terrorist attack in Hebron in 2002 in which 12 Israelis were killed, says that he was treated for PTSD after that incident.

“I got stronger in captivity using the tools I learned for PTSD,” Ziv says. “One was, ‘Manage the situation and don’t let the situation manage you.'”

Ziv stresses that it is “not shameful to ask for help,” and tells the audience to make sure they keep reaching out to soldiers to offer treatment and therapy.

Herkin tells the audience that what they are doing is “holy work.”

“Continue to learn,” Ziv says. “Give what you can to help others. That is the most important thing you can do.”