Israel Grapples With Lingering Trauma Three Years After October 7th Attacks
Translated & summarized from Ynet by baba
Three years after the October 7th attacks, a significant portion of Israelis are experiencing ongoing mental distress, with studies showing elevated rates of clinical depression and anxiety. While calls to mental health hotlines show shifts in reported issues, overall anxiety and PTSD rates remain high, affecting about a quarter of the population. Structural barriers to treatment persist, with 8% unable to access care despite wanting it, particularly impacting low-income individuals.
The story in 6 lines · by baba
- A quarter of Israelis are experiencing clinical levels of anxiety and depression three years after the October 7th attacks.
- Studies show a renewed increase in depression and anxiety levels following security incidents in 2025 and 2026.
- Calls to ERAN regarding suicidal ideation have increased cumulatively over the past three years.
- Over half of Israelis surveyed experienced some level of mental distress in recent waves of research.
- Eight percent of Israelis seeking mental health treatment faced structural barriers like cost and long waiting lists.
- Low-income individuals are disproportionately affected by mental distress and barriers to treatment.
Three years after the October 7th Hamas attacks and the subsequent "Swords of Iron" war, a significant portion of Israelis continue to experience substantial mental distress. Updated data indicates that tens of percent of the population are suffering from significant mental anguish, marked by high rates of clinical anxiety and depression, and hundreds of thousands of calls to the emergency mental health hotline ERAN.
While some indicators showed improvement in the second year of the war compared to the first, subsequent studies in July 2025 and April 2026 revealed a renewed increase in depression and anxiety levels. Researchers note that these measurements, taken shortly after security incidents like "Lion's Roar" and "With the Pack," may reflect temporary distress peaks rather than the general state during quieter periods. Nevertheless, they highlight the cumulative psychological toll of living in Israel amidst ongoing conflict, security tensions, and uncertainty.
In July 2025, 26.6% of respondents crossed the clinical threshold for depression and 17.0% for anxiety. Later surveys showed over a third reporting clinical depression (around 35%-37%) and about a quarter reporting clinical anxiety (around 24%-25%). Additionally, another quarter reported sub-clinical symptoms for both depression (around 27%-28%) and anxiety (around 26%), meaning over half of respondents in each wave experienced some level of mental distress.
ERAN's data shows a cumulative increase in calls related to suicidal ideation, rising from 2% in the first year of the war to 2.8% in the third year. Conversely, calls concerning emotional pain, depression, and acute distress decreased from 26.6% to about 20%, and those related to anxiety, trauma, and loss dropped from 18.4% to 9.6%. ERAN's National Professional Manager, Dr. Shiri Daniels, describes the situation as a "fake routine," where people function outwardly but experience underlying distress, loneliness, relationship difficulties, and a loss of stability.
A recent study by NATAL found that overall rates of anxiety and PTSD remained consistent over the past three years, affecting about a quarter of Israelis. Researchers from the Myers-JDC-Brookdale Institute, who have been tracking public well-being since the COVID-19 pandemic, observed a consistent rise in depression and anxiety post-October 7th. However, they caution that measurements taken near security events might inflate these figures. The study also revealed that 8% of respondents who wanted treatment faced structural barriers like cost, accessibility, and long waiting lists, disproportionately affecting those most in need and those unaware of their condition.
Mentioned
