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PTSD on the rise, 23% of Israelis suffer from it

That’s 3 times what Americans recorded post-9/11.

By TPS

Nearly one-quarter of Israeli Jews suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder following Hamas’s Oct. 7 invasion, a study released on Sunday shows.

Twenty-three percent of Jewish adults surveyed who were not directly exposed to the surprise attack suffer from PTSD, the Tel Aviv University research found.

The figure is three times that which Americans in New York City experienced following the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center, the study found.

PTSD is a mental health condition that can develop in people who experience traumatic events such as war, terrorist acts, natural disasters, physical or sexual assault, or witnessing violent acts. Symptoms can include intrusive thoughts like flashbacks, avoidance of situations that remind victims of the trauma, negative changes in mood, and other behavioral changes.

The research confirms that following the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, Israelis’ mental stress has skyrocketed, and they are less active and sleep less.

The high incidence of PTSD in Israel is attributed to increased news consumption, and especially to the availability of graphic videos of the massacre on social media.

“The pervasive circulation of explicit and unfiltered graphic content, including videos of horrific acts across various media channels, may contribute to a rise in PTSD rates among individuals indirectly exposed to traumatic events,” said Tel Aviv University Professor Dan Yamin.

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Data based on 752,057 daily questionnaires filled out by nearly 5,000 participants revealed that stress levels after Oct. 7 were unprecedented and far exceeded those observed during previous events.

These include the deadliest and most contagious COVID-19 wave, during which 30% of the Israeli population tested positive over a short period of three months; widespread social unrest sparked by the government’s judicial reform initiative, and briefer periods of conflict with Gaza which featured intense rocket barrages.

The research is based on two sub-studies. The first is a prospective study that began in November 2020 and included approximately 5,000 participants who were equipped with smartwatches that daily monitored changes in their mental and physiological indices. Participants were also given follow-up questionnaires asking about PTSD, clinical anxiety, news consumption, and videos containing horrifying images

In the week after the Oct. 7 attacks, participants were given questionnaires asking about PTSD, clinical anxiety, news consumption, and graphic videos related to the massacre.

Data also showed that since Oct. 7, the smartwatch-equipped participants showed significant decreases in mood levels, physical activity, and quality of sleep.