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Out There: My PTSD Odyssey
It’s time to raise the unheard voice of soldiers who’ve survived combat, but didn’t return from war.
Out There will take you on the author's journey of uncovering, concealing, and ultimately accepting PTSD. When The 2006 Second Lebanon War ends, Omri crosses the border fence back into Israel. His homecoming forces him to confront the hero image of the Israeli man. It’s an image he’s already familiar with as the son of a 1973 Yom Kippur War veteran. Upon his return, Omri is also faced with a new battle — that of a combat soldier suffering from mental trauma that blurs the line between macabre nightmare and monotonous reality. Born in 1984, Omri is a member of a generation raised in the shadow of repressed and unspoken post-trauma. In 2017, he moved to Barcelona, where he continued writing this book in an attempt to find an answer for his nightmares.
Out There will take you on the author's journey of uncovering, concealing, and ultimately accepting PTSD. When The 2006 Second Lebanon War ends, Omri crosses the border fence back into Israel. His homecoming forces him to confront the hero image of the Israeli man. It’s an image he’s already familiar with as the son of a 1973 Yom Kippur War veteran. Upon his return, Omri is also faced with a new battle — that of a combat soldier suffering from mental trauma that blurs the line between macabre nightmare and monotonous reality. Born in 1984, Omri is a member of a generation raised in the shadow of repressed and unspoken post-trauma. In 2017, he moved to Barcelona, where he continued writing this book in an attempt to find an answer for his nightmares.
428 pages, Paperback
Published July 17, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 7, 2023
This book turned out to be so much more than I expected. On the face of it, it is an account of how the author comes to terms with the fact that he suffers from PTSD after fighting for Israel in the Second Lebanon War. But more than that, it is the story of how going to war can change a man, not just his life, but also his outlook on the same.
Omri Ginzburg was quite literally raised for war, growing up hearing the heroic war stories of his father and uncle in a country where wars are regular events and conscription is obligatory. And yet, the discovery of his condition takes him on a psychological journey the struggles of which he brilliantly conveys in this book.
It’s worth remembering that Israel is a country that relies heavily on its conscription-based military and, as such, often prefers to pretend that PTSD doesn’t exist. To try to understand what you’re going through and get relevant treatment plunges you into an interminable nightmare of doublespeak, condescendence, gaslighting and bureaucracy.
Ginzburg’s descriptions of the effects of his PTSD are nothing short of harrowing and would often slip into my nightmares if I were to read it before going to sleep. If his goal was to give his readers a glimpse into what living with this condition is like, he definitely succeeds.
Furthermore, the book is just brilliantly executed on a technical level. It is a compelling read that ever propels you forward through the smart usage of several literary devices, from a nested doll framework jumping between time periods to the looming Chekhov’s gun that are the red notebooks he filled during the war and has never dared to read since. The whole thing builds up towards an ending that is absolutely heart-stopping.
This book deserves to be widely read; I absolutely recommend you support this self-published endeavour.
Omri Ginzburg was quite literally raised for war, growing up hearing the heroic war stories of his father and uncle in a country where wars are regular events and conscription is obligatory. And yet, the discovery of his condition takes him on a psychological journey the struggles of which he brilliantly conveys in this book.
It’s worth remembering that Israel is a country that relies heavily on its conscription-based military and, as such, often prefers to pretend that PTSD doesn’t exist. To try to understand what you’re going through and get relevant treatment plunges you into an interminable nightmare of doublespeak, condescendence, gaslighting and bureaucracy.
Ginzburg’s descriptions of the effects of his PTSD are nothing short of harrowing and would often slip into my nightmares if I were to read it before going to sleep. If his goal was to give his readers a glimpse into what living with this condition is like, he definitely succeeds.
Furthermore, the book is just brilliantly executed on a technical level. It is a compelling read that ever propels you forward through the smart usage of several literary devices, from a nested doll framework jumping between time periods to the looming Chekhov’s gun that are the red notebooks he filled during the war and has never dared to read since. The whole thing builds up towards an ending that is absolutely heart-stopping.
This book deserves to be widely read; I absolutely recommend you support this self-published endeavour.
August 7, 2023
Reading OUT THERE was like having a deep and intimate conversation with the author. I have known Omri for a long time, I knew that he served in the war and I even knew, at some point, that he was dealing with PTSD and writing a book about it. But I never dared to ask what he has been through, and I had no idea how it affected his life, his relationships, or how his days and nights were. Now, after so many years, I feel like I finally “know” him. What a journey you shared with us, Omri… and what a storyteller you are.
As a psychoanalysis student, I would recommend your book to anyone working with mental care, but actually I recommend your book to anyone. Really. Since page one, you kept me extremely intrigued, connected to the story and worried about what would happen next.
Thank you for enriching our lives with your words and experiences.
As a psychoanalysis student, I would recommend your book to anyone working with mental care, but actually I recommend your book to anyone. Really. Since page one, you kept me extremely intrigued, connected to the story and worried about what would happen next.
Thank you for enriching our lives with your words and experiences.
February 8, 2026
Omri Ginzburg’s book is deeply moving.
The journey he went through—coming to recognize himself, his life, and his post-traumatic reality—is profoundly emotional.
As a therapist specializing in trauma work, and as a woman and a mother in Israel, the book touched me at my very core.
I believe this is an important book for anyone who has returned from war (no matter where), and for the people around them.
The journey he went through—coming to recognize himself, his life, and his post-traumatic reality—is profoundly emotional.
As a therapist specializing in trauma work, and as a woman and a mother in Israel, the book touched me at my very core.
I believe this is an important book for anyone who has returned from war (no matter where), and for the people around them.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews