MK Michal Waldiger of Religious Zionism argues that Israel’s mental health and addiction services must stop treating separate symptoms in separate systems and instead provide one continuous care path for people with dual diagnosis. In an opinion piece, she describes dual diagnosis as a combination of psychological distress and addiction, and says the state’s fragmented bureaucracy leaves patients and their families stranded between agencies when they are at their most vulnerable.
Waldiger says the war has made the problem impossible to ignore. According to the Defense Ministry Rehabilitation Division, about 25,000 newly wounded soldiers have joined the rehabilitation system since the war began, 62% of them are dealing with a psychological reaction, and about 23% are using cannabis. She says these figures show a sharp rise in dual diagnosis among soldiers and civilians who are trying to dull emotional wounds with substances.
She says patients are bounced between four bodies, the Health Ministry, the Welfare Ministry, health funds and the National Insurance Institute, each with its own rules and bureaucracy. Families often become the only stable support, she writes, but they are rarely included in decisions about treatment and are frequently shut out at critical moments. Waldiger says the price is borne by parents, siblings, children and spouses who are exhausted by an opaque system and repeated rejections.
Waldiger notes that the Families for Mental Health association includes about 13,000 families nationwide, and says its volunteers and support line help them navigate the system. Still, she argues that the main responsibility must shift to the state. She says a conference on Thursday at the Knesset, called “Double Recovery” and initiated with the association, will promote a new model that treats the patient, the family and the professional as equal partners, alongside inter-ministerial cooperation and a “Housing First” approach.
