Almost 1 in 3 Israelis say they need professional mental health support – survey |
After two years of war and national trauma, a record 32 percent of Israelis say they need professional mental health support, according to a end-of-year survey conducted by Maccabi Healthcare Services.
Among Israel Defense Forces personnel serving as conscripts or reservists over the past year, the situation appeared more severe: 39% reported needing mental health support, 26% were concerned about depression, and 48% had sleeping issues.
The survey was conducted in November among a representative national sample of 1,100 Israelis, ages 20-75, from across the country, combining self-reported survey data with anonymized medical records from approximately 2.7 million Maccabi members. Maccabi is the second-largest of the four health maintenance organizations serving Israelis.
According to the survey, nearly one in three Israelis said they feel they need professional mental health support. Seventeen percent of respondents described their mental state as fair or poor, compared with 13% before the war.
Lifestyle habits show mixed trends, with 62% of Israelis describing their physical health as very good or excellent, an increase compared with the period before the war.
Only nine percent define their health as fair or poor, a significant decline from the levels recorded shortly after the war began on October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel from Gaza, killing 1,200 people and kidnapping........