PTSD

In the chaotic weeks after October 7, social media feeds filled with grim images of violence – and, for many users, a torrent of anti-Israel and antisemitic abuse.

Since October 7, Israelis have lived with unrelenting trauma, and the country is in the midst of a mental health state of emergency.

Tel Aviv University operates Israel’s largest PTSD clinic, providing life-saving care to soldiers and civilians amid the ongoing war.

The IDF is addressing, yet struggling to contain a wave of combat trauma, with over 1,100 soldiers discharged for PTSD as the army expands mental health support.

Once counterculture, psychedelics are now studied in Israel for treating PTSD and depression, with research exploring sustainable bioengineered use.

Since the Israel-Hamas War began in October 2023, nearly 50 IDF soldiers – most of them suffering from PTSD – have taken their own lives.

The survey, carried out among 111 participants – including active-duty soldiers, career service members, reservists, and ZAKA volunteers – focused on post-traumatic symptoms.

The protests, which have been ongoing in recent weeks, demand government action to assist soldiers in coping with trauma resulting from their military service. 

In Israel, we are all too familiar with the scars of war, smoke on the horizon, sirens in the night, the sound of explosions all too nearby, and funerals of heroes whose names we must never forget.

A Health Ministry report described the systematic starvation, as well as physical and emotional torture, carried out by Hamas terrorists on hostages released from Gaza earlier this year.