Prevalence of Substance and Behavioral Addictions and Common Mental Health Disorders in Israel, 2022-2025

Background. Traumatic events, such as terror attacks and war, are expected to impact mental health. Thus, it is important to assess the mental health of the general population of Israel, after the events of October 7, 2023, and over the course of the Swords of Iron war, to provide information about prevalence of addictions and other mental health disorders, overall and by key sociodemographic groups.

Methods. General population data was collected from Jewish adults in Israel before October 7 (April 2022), after October 7 (December 2023), and about a year after that (February 2025), in a series of repeated cross-sectional samples with longitudinal data on a subset of the respondents. In these data, we assessed prevalence of problematic non-medical use of alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, sedatives, prescription stimulants, and prescription opioid painkillers; problematic use of internet, social media, electronic gaming, gambling, pornography, and compulsive sexual behavior; and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and anxiety; and determined if prevalence changed from April 2022-December 2023; December 2023-February 2025; and April 2022-February 2025. Logistic regression models were used to assess which sociodemographic groups (by gender, age, and religiosity) were at higher risk for mental health issues, and whether prevalence changed over time, and if changes differed by sociodemographic group, adjusting for retention across multiple samples.

Results. Problematic use of addictive substances and behaviors and PTSD, depression, and anxiety were prevalent in the general population. Generally, younger ages and Secular and Traditional religious group showed higher risk of addictions (except for prescription medications) and common mental health disorders, while men showed higher risk of addictions. Increases over time in problematic use of prescription sedatives, opioids, any drug, and internet were observed. Initial increases followed by returns to baseline were observed for problematic use of any drug/alcohol, gambling, gaming, social media, and PSTD.

Conclusions. Monitoring the prevalence of addictions and other common mental health disorders in the general population during and after nationally traumatic events is important to understand the evolving mental health of the population and provide information and resources for potential interventions.

Keywords: risky substance use, behavioral addictions, mental health disorders, war trauma, epidemiology, longitudinal study