State admits soldier developed OCD guarding military secrets

A soldier who developed obsessive-compulsive disorder while serving in the IDF was recognized by the Defense Ministry as a disabled veteran. As a result she will receive state assistance for her medications and treatments.

According to a Sunday report by Maariv, the female soldier, whose name was not revealed, started her military service in one of the air force’s classified units in 2005.

During her service she was repeatedly warned by her commanders of the dangers of revealing classified information and told she might have to undergo polygraph tests. Eventually she developed symptoms of stress and anxiety.

The soldier, fearful of leaking classified information, refrained from sharing her feelings with her parents or commanders, the report said. Over time, her actions became more neurotic; she checked her locker time and again to make sure it was properly secured, returned to classrooms to make sure no documents were visible and eventually picked up scraps of paper from around the base in case someone else had dropped secret documents.

After her supervisors noticed her condition, she was sent to a psychiatrist who released her from military service. However, the soldier refused to be discharged and was transferred to a desk job that didn’t involve classified information.

The soldier ended her service in 2007, but experts who examined her diagnosed OCD and said she would need psychological treatment and medication for years.

At first the Defense Ministry refused to acknowledge that the soldier’s condition was a result of her service. “Many soldiers went through the same course and job [as she did] and didn’t develop any disorders,” the paper quoted the ministry as saying.

However, an appeal committee accepted the claim of her family’s attorney, who argued that she was healthy and fully functional before her military service — but not after.