Psychological responses in family members after the Hebron massacre

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The authors attempted to determine the frequency of severe psychological responses in surviving family members in a religious Muslim culture. Twenty-three wives, twelve daughters and twenty-six sons of heads of households massacred while praying in the Hebron mosque on 25 February 1994 were interviewed with the clinician-administered PTSD scale; 50% of daughters, 39% of wives, and 23% of sons met criteria for PTSD. PTSD or traumatic bereavement occurs with high frequency after a major tragedy in a Moslem society, despite religious admiration of dead martyrs.