Uses and abuses of mental health professionals on Israeli radio during the Persian Gulf War.

Israel's situation during the Persian Gulf War, which caused shock and put the country in a state of emergency, is described in this article. Radio was the dominant medium of communication. Even as the fighting was going on, many complaints were lodged against mental health professionals, mostly psychologists, who began to appear on the radio in an attempt to help the population cope with the situation. In this article, reality (the frequency of the appearance of experts, their specialties, and the contents of their messages) is contrasted with the fantastic claims made against the professionals. It is suggested that most of the claims were invalid and that the appearances of the professionals were adequate in both quantity and quality. A hypothesis is offered to explain the gap between the claims and the findings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)