Since the October 7 attacks, use of psychiatric medication in Israel has risen 14%, and Dr. Gilad Bodenheimer, head of the Mental Health Division at the Health Ministry, said some prescriptions were issued because patients could not get therapy appointments. Speaking at the ynet and Yedioth Ahronoth “State in Post-Trauma” conference with the Histadrut, he stressed that “there are family and community healing forces, and not everyone needs to see a psychiatrist or psychologist. Whoever needs to, should certainly go.”
Bodenheimer said the system is in the middle of a long structural expansion. Building a new generation of psychiatrists and psychologists “takes time,” he said, adding that the public system’s core services have grown by more than 40% in the past two years, not including hospitalization alternatives and resilience centers. The ministry has also added about 1,000 psychology interns and 100 psychiatry interns, roughly 20% more than before.
Demand has increased as stigma around mental health falls. He said the ministry expected the system to need to double capacity after October 7, about 600,000 people over several years, not all at once. In 2025, about 435,000 people were treated in mental health clinics, up 30% from 2022. Still, he said medication should not be the first-line treatment for depression or anxiety, and short interventions, including three sessions with resilience coaches, can help in mild cases.
Bodenheimer said he cannot rule out situations where medication substitutes for a missed therapy visit, especially if someone waits too long and worsens. He gave the example of a mother whose son is serving in Lebanon or Gaza and has insomnia, saying she may first receive tools and therapy, but later may need medicine if the stress continues. He added that psychiatry admissions have not increased, because trauma usually does not end in hospitalization.
He also addressed the ministry committee he led on medical cannabis, which recommended banning the marketing of smokable cannabis within three years. He said international professional bodies warn cannabis can harm people with post-trauma more than help them, but emphasized that people who benefit from cannabis should not have their treatment stopped.
