Following two and a half years of heavy conflict, including the deadly Hamas invasion of October 7, 2023, and two wars with Iran — the second still ongoing — Israel and its citizens have been forever changed, with so many circles of grief that nobody knows how many people need, and will need, trauma support.

“The mental health system, which had difficulty functioning even before October 7, collapsed in the first days of the war,” the state comptroller concluded in a February 2025 report.

Similar to other aspects of the post-October 7 period, many nonprofits stepped up to assist in the mental health sphere, among them veterans such as NATAL, ERAN, ENOSH, the Israel Trauma Coalition, and, one of the oldest, the Community Stress Prevention Center (known in Hebrew as Mashabim, or Resources) in the northern Lebanon border city of Kiryat Shmona.

But alongside them, a flurry of new organizations also sprang up, like mushrooms after the rain, offering everything from surfing, hiking, and therapeutic riding to yoga, meditation, and breathing. Some aimed at specific locations, age groups, or genders (for example, women in the security services). Others were created to memorialize a fallen relative or friend.

This reporter counted over 50 organizations in the Hebrew-language Guidestar database established after October 7, 2023, that offer some form of therapeutic support.

The system, however, is fragmented, and there is nobody in overall control.

The Health Ministry, which has opened 14 new trauma clinics next to mental hospitals since October 7,  says it is responsible only for public services — those provided by hospitals and clinics run by the health funds (kupot holim, in Hebrew).

Now, several initiatives are trying to make order of the chaos; to map what is available to identify gaps and duplication, coordinate between the many actors involved, provide coping tools to the general population, and formulate standards to ensure that provision meets needs in the field, in a properly funded and supervised manner.

Unknown depths of pain

Since October 7, Israelis have been impacted by a seemingly endless cycle of war. This includes the Hamas invasion of southern Israel, which saw some 1,200 people slaughtered and 251 kidnapped, all of whom have since returned, dead or alive; the Swords of Iron war against Hamas in Gaza; rocket fire from Hezbollah in Lebanon, which has now resumed after a November 2024 ceasefire; two rounds of war with Iran, the first in June last year, the second since February 28; an uptick in violence in the West Bank, and missiles from Houthi terrorists in Yemen.

More than 900 soldiers, officers, and reservists, including several dozen local security officers, have been killed, with some 22,000 wounded IDF soldiers having gone through treatment. Of the latter, 58 percent were suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health conditions. The Defense Ministry’s Rehabilitation Department receives approximately 1,500 requests for recognition of mental health issues each month.

In addition to injuries, long reserve duty periods have imposed impossible pressures on marriages and destroyed jobs, businesses, and career........

© The Times of Israel