BGU Study Finds Alarming Surge in PTSD Among Young Israelis
BGU Study Finds Alarming Surge in PTSD Among Young Israelis
March 18, 2025
Current events, Medical Research
Nearly Half of Young Israelis Show Signs of War-Related PTSD
Jewish Press – After more than a year of war, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among Israelis, particularly among young adults is soaring, according to research released by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) on Thursday.
While PTSD has become more widespread among Israelis, an estimated three million, 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 BGU 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% of young people met the criteria for PTSD. After the war, this figure surged to 42%, and among those evacuated from their homes, the rate was even higher at 60%. 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 BGU, 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.
“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.
Help A4BGU continue to support mental health and other vital student services at BGU through the Ben-Gurion Annual Fund by donating at a4bgu.org/wayforward.
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