Three Years After October 7, Mental Health Services Report A Shift In Israelis' Distress
Data from the Israeli mental health service SAHAR indicates that the psychological impact of the October 7 attacks and the subsequent war remains high three years later. While acute trauma has moderated, there is a significant rise in distress related to bereavement, financial hardship, and difficulty accessing care.
Why it matters
It underscores the long-term, hidden mental health consequences of prolonged conflict on civilian populations.
New data from SAHAR, Online Mental Support, which provides free emotional support online in Israel, shows the psychological toll of the war remains significant three years after October 7, even as the nature of the distress changes. The overall volume of conversations with the service has more than doubled compared with the pre-war period.
Trauma and war-related issues saw the sharpest increase in the first year, rising more than tenfold from pre-war levels. The increase has gradually moderated, but such conversations remained 3.6 times higher than before the war in the third year.
Other forms of distress have persisted or intensified. In the third year, conversations involving bereavement and loss rose 82%, while those involving financial difficulties increased 46% compared with the pre-war period. Difficulty accessing medical or mental health care rose 92%, one of the sharpest increases. Conversations involving depression and sadness were up 21%.
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