Tel Aviv [Israel], March 13 (ANI/TPS): After more than a year of war, post-traumatic stress disorder among Israelis, particularly among young adults, is soaring, according to research released by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev on Thursday.
While PTSD has become more widespread among Israelis after over a year of fighting Hamas and Hezbollah, the study said individuals ages 18-30 were particularly affected due to their high rate of military service, personal losses, and displacement from their homes.
“This is one of the groups that was most significantly affected,” said Dr. Stav Shapira, from the Department of Emergency Medicine at Ben-Gurion University and one of the study’s authors. “There is a high proportion of reserve service members, spouses of soldiers, victims of the war, and more. This war has exacerbated the challenges they already face.”
The study found that before the war, 25 per cent of young people met the criteria for PTSD. After the war, this figure surged to 42 per cent, and among those evacuated from their homes, the rate was even higher at 60 per cent. Similar increases were noted in levels of depression and loneliness. Alarmingly, protective factors such as personal resilience and social support, which typically help individuals cope with distress, have significantly declined.
PTSD is a mental health condition triggered by experiencing or witnessing a terrifying event. Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares, severe anxiety, and uncontrollable thoughts about the event. People with PTSD may avoid situations or things that remind them of the traumatic event, and they may have negative changes in beliefs and feelings.
The condition is typically managed with therapy and medication.
At least 1,180 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Among the casualties, 52 per cent were under 30 years old, with the highest rate among those aged 20-24. According to developmental psychology, this age range is defined as “emerging adulthood,” a stage crucial for identity formation and personal development, the researchers said.
To examine the war’s psychological effects, researchers conducted two surveys among young people aged 18-24. The first, taken before the war, included 1,216 participants, while the second, conducted after the war’s outbreak, surveyed 915 individuals. The post-war survey also assessed personal loss, injury, and evacuation experiences.
The study identified key risk factors for post-traumatic symptoms, including perceived threats, emotional coping strategies, loss of loved ones, and forced evacuation. In contrast, individuals with strong personal resilience and social support exhibited lower distress levels.
However, Prof. Tehila Refaeli, from the Department of Social Work at Ben-Gurion University, warned that these protective factors were diminishing in the current environment.
“We examined whether and how resilience resources are protective in the relationship between a subjective sense of threat and psychological distress, but our concerns were confirmed. We found that in the current reality, they are not protective factors, and there is a decrease in personal resilience and social support alongside an increase in psychological distress variables,” Refaeli said.
Furthermore, the study found that common coping strategies such as avoidance and repression were not only ineffective but may have exacerbated distress.
“Despite the tendency to think that young people have resilience and the ability to overcome, and to naturally invest in care primarily for children and adolescents who are perceived as more vulnerable, the study points to the need not to ignore the many needs of this population,” the researchers said.
To address these concerns, the study calls for policies tailored to young people’s specific needs. Recommended initiatives include programs to strengthen resilience, rebuild support networks, and expand mental health services with a focus on trauma treatment.
An estimated three million Israelis overall are suffering from PTSD, according to a State Comptroller report released in February. (ANI/TPS)
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