Journalist Talks About Suffering PTSD from Covering War in Gaza, 'Hell on Earth': 'You Can’t Escape' (Exclusive)

• Trey Yingst suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder after spending a decade as a war reporter
• A journalist learns to manage his mental health after covering the Israel-Hamas war in the field
• He details the psychological impact of his profession in his new book, black saturday

For Trey Yingst, the smell of barbecue triggers PTSD. It reminds him of the burning bodies he witnessed in Gaza after the war suddenly broke out in October 2023. The smells are eerily similar, he says, adding that his brain struggles to tell them apart.

“I try to separate things in my mind as much as possible, but it can be difficult,” he tells PEOPLE. “The mind will return very soon.”

On October 7, 2023, Hamas militants from Gaza launched a surprise terrorist attack on Israel, killing an estimated 1,400 people and taking more than 200 others hostage — a day that later became known as “Black Saturday,” which is also the title of Yingst’s new book .

Yingst — Fox News’ chief foreign correspondent — spent nearly 200 days in the field covering the war and calls it “one of the most terrifying assignments I’ve ever had.”

“We were in southern Israel on the morning of October 7 and witnessed the massacre first hand. There were people who died in front of me and we saw the aftermath… bodies everywhere,” he recalls. “That’s when I really started to understand the effect a war reporter can have on your mind.”

A journalist from Gaza tore off his protective gear after learning of his colleague’s death live on air

Courtesy of Trey Yingst

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For the past decade, Yingst has traveled the world reporting on the realities of war, violence and human conflict.

The job, which keeps him away from home for most of the year, has taken a toll on his mental health — he now suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The 31-year-old often has nightmares about what he saw on the front lines, triggered by certain sights and smells.

“When you come back from reporting and clean other people’s blood off your boots… that’s not something you learn in journalism school,” he says. “Little things like a coffee stain on the ground. It looks like the blood that was on the ground in these houses we entered. It’s a pretty sad thing.”

In addition to her “creepy” memories and nightmares, Yingst is also struggling with “reintegration” — disconnecting from work and balancing her personal and professional life. Sharing what she calls a vulnerable moment, she says she’s actually “scared” of going to a friend’s wedding because the small talk that comes with others often makes her feel lonely.

“Last year I focused on what was happening inside Gaza? What does the military say about the strike that was carried out? How many civilians were killed? How many militants were killed? And then when you go to a wedding, you have to talk about the weather and what people did last week, and that can feel really isolating,” he explains.

While dealing with PTSD, Yingst admits it was difficult for him to accept his own mental health issues while simultaneously reporting on people whose lives are more difficult.

“There is so much suffering and I tried to capture everything from a very empathetic lens,” explains the journalist. “I’m trying to really humanize the story, realizing that if I’m having issues with my mental health just covering the story, how must the people who are living through this hell on earth feel? So I try to keep that in mind.”

Yingst recalls meeting a man who had evacuated Gaza City and seeing “a look of sadness and deep despair in his eyes.” He often reminds himself when he comes home from a long assignment, “I don’t have to live it.”

“I can, in a way, leave,” he says. “And that’s the only difference and probably the reason why I’m still doing this job. I find value in being the voice of the voiceless. That’s why I do what I do.”

Courtesy of Trey Yingst

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This is one of the reasons why Yingst wrote his book black saturdaywhich will be published on October 1.

“I mean black saturday is truly the gold standard of reporting on the October 7th massacre because it is a story about people,” he shares. “It is about the human experience in southern Israel and in Gaza. The goal is to help people better understand what happened that morning and in the weeks after, not only through my storytelling, but also through the stories of other people I interview.”

While most of the book is about these emotional stories, Yingst says 20% of the book is about his own experience, detailing the psychological impact of reporting on the war and overcoming his mental health challenges. He says it was helpful to get things “out of my head” on paper.

“These are the parts of the job that we don’t talk about as journalists, but it’s the time between live shots where we experience these things that you really carry the job with you,” he explains. “You cannot escape. And I think that was the most challenging part for me, and I tried to acknowledge that and then deal with it in a healthy way.”

Courtesy of Trey Yingst

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Although he has difficult days, Yingst says he is proud of how he has learned to deal with stress.

He is an advocate of therapy, cold exposure, stress-relieving physical activity, meditation, breathing exercises, and maintaining a clean diet. He also no longer drinks alcohol, says he has been sober since January 2023.

“This job involves long hours in stressful, dangerous environments. So having healthy ventilation was really helpful,” he says. “I just think taking care of your body and mind together prepares you to be able to go back into war zones and do the work that we do.”

“I want to set an example for others to know that you don’t have to turn to drugs and alcohol when you’re struggling in these ways,” Yingst tells PEOPLE. “There are healthier options.”

black saturday is out on October 1st and is available for pre-order now.

If you or someone you know needs mental health help, text “STRENGTH” to the text crisis line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.

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Source: HIS Education